Races Tighten & Awards Given

Stretch Drive Will Decide More than Championships

(St. Louis, MO) – There are four games left on the regular season schedules for Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conference teams. Championships are at stake and postseason individual awards can still be determined.

While conference races have tightened, this week’s awards also took a little different shape.

Missouri Valley Conference

After winning two of the league’s first three ‘Player of the Week‘ awards, Valparaiso’s Javon Freeman-Liberty had been shut out on the prestigious honor, until this week. Valpo (14-13, 7-7) won a pair of games and Freeman-Liberty averaged 19.5 points and seven rebounds. The 6’3 sophomore scored 25 points during the Crusaders’ come-from-behind win at Illinois State.

There was great anticipation around Lamont West’s transfer to Missouri State. Expectations were high for the West Virginia transfer and this week some of those views were validated. The 6’8 West earned the conference’s ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ award while sparking the Bears to back-to-back victories. MSU (13-14, 7-7) is fighting to avoid the Arch Madness ‘play-in’ round and West was a huge contributor last week. He scored a career-high 15 points against Drake and then topped that number with 22 against Indiana State.

Ohio Valley Conference

UT Martin’s Quintin Dove earned the season’s first ‘Player of the Week’ award and then did it again last week. The 6’8 senior exploded for 56 points over the Skyhawks’ two games and also grabbed 16 rebounds. UTM (8-17, 4-10) split two games, winning in overtime and losing by two points. That split kept them within one game of eighth place, with a chance to earn an invitation to the league’s postseason tournament.

While Austin Peay players have been racking up both ‘Player of the Week’ and ‘Freshman of the Week’ awards, Eli Abaev earned the team’s first ‘Newcomer of the Week’ award. The Eastern Florida State transfer helped the Governors to a sweep of Murray State and Eastern Kentucky while averaging 13.5 points and 11.5 rebounds. APSU (18-9, 12-2) moved into a tie with Murray for the OVC’s top spot.

Speaking of those ‘Freshman of the Week’ honors, Abaev’s teammate Jordyn Adams earned his eighth such notification. The Silsbee, Texas native averaged 21.5 points for the streaking Governors. He is the nation’s fifth most prolific scoring freshman (17.2 points per game).