MVC/OVC Second Last Weekly Awards

Yearly Awards Becoming Obvious

(St. Louis, MO) – As much as we like drama, the second last weekly awards for the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conferences, make it clear that many of the yearly awards have already been decided. The ‘Freshman’ honors are in the bag. Start engraving the trophies!

Players of the Week

Drake’s  Bennett Stirtz continues to be the MVC’s dominant player. The Bulldog point guard leads the Valley in scoring, assists, steals and leads the nation in ‘minutes played’. Last week Stirtz averaged 25.5 points, eight rebounds and 4.5 assists during two Bulldog wins. The Valley’s ‘Player of the Week’ award is his third. He has also claimed two ‘Newcomer’ honors. Stirtz will be the Valley’s ‘Larry Bird Trophy’ winner this year.

Southeast Missouri’s Brendan Terry helped catapult the Redhawks to a guaranteed share of the OVC title. The 6’7 forward averaged 23.5 points and seven boards as SEMO ran its winning streak to nine games. After not reaching double figures in scoring during the team’s first six games, this week’s ‘Player of the Week’ has reached double-digits in 17 of the last 23 and all three of his 20-point performances have occurred in the last seven games.

Second Last Newcomer Awards

Evansville’s Tayshawn Comer is trying to give Stirtz a run for his money in the ‘league games only’ scoring race. Comer averaged 21.5 points, six rebounds and six steals during the Aces’ split of two games. In conference games, Stirtz averages 20.4 points and Comer 18.9. The Valley’s ‘Newcomer of the Week’ is an Eastern Kentucky transfer.

Terry is also the OVC ‘Newcomer of the Week’. The Pensacola State College transfer scored a career high 25 points against Western Illinois. SEMO’s nine-game win streak is tied for fourth-longest nationally. The league championship is the Redhawks’ first since 1999-2000.

Weekly and Yearly Rookie Awards Locked Up

Valparaiso’s All Wright has all but wrapped up the team’s second straight ‘Freshman of the Year’ award by claiming this ‘Freshman of the Week’ honor. Cooper Schwieger won the award last season. Wright averaged 26.5 points, made 15 of 16 free throws and the Beacons won a pair of games. He has claimed the last three weekly awards and six overall. During conference play, Evansville’s Gabriel Pozzato (16 ppg) has a slight scoring edge (15.9) over Wright.

There is no question that Lindenwood’s Jadis Jones will be the OVC ‘Freshman of the Year’. The 6’5 wing landed his record tying ELEVENTH ‘Freshman of the Week’ honor. Jones averaged 14.5 points and five rebounds as the Lions split their two games and have secured a spot in the OVC postseason tournament. Jones has reached double figures in scoring during seven of his last eight games.

Do Good

 

Editor: Cover photo of Bennett Stirtz, courtesy of godrakebulldogs.com & Casey Shanaberger.