Securing Their Positions

(St. Louis, MO) – Elite players from the Ohio Valley and Missouri Valley Conferences were strutting their stuff last week. With so much on the line, several players continued to elevate their performances to sometimes historic levels.

As both leagues head into ‘Tournament Week’ these are the final weekly awards for the Valley and the OVC.

Ohio Valley Conference

Preseason ‘Player of the Year‘ Jonathan Stark won his fourth ‘Player of the Week‘ award as he and his Murray State teammates secured the OVC regular season title and the top seed at this week’s conference tournament. The OVC’s leading scorer finished his final regular season game in a Racer uniform with a 31 point performance to lead the Racers to a win at Austin Peay, in so doing securing the Racers’ 25th OVC title. Stark not only leads the league in scoring, but leads in converted three-pointers and is second in free throw percentage.

Jacksonville State and Morehead State each swept their final week games and players from those two teams share this week’s ‘Newcomer‘ award. Morehead’s A.J. Hicks averaged 17 points during the two contests, but it was his school record NINE STEALS during the Eagles’ win over UT Martin that set him apart as a ‘Co-Newcomer of the Week‘ winner. 

Sharing that title was JSU’s Marlon Hunter. As the Gamecocks were mounting a charge into fourth place and knocking Belmont out of first place, Hunter averaged 17.5 points. The reigning tournament champions also slipped past Tennessee Tech earning a first round bye in this week’s championships.

Electric point guard Ja Morant is this week’s ‘Freshman of the Week‘. The Murray State rookie averaged 14.5 points, nine rebounds and six assists during the Racers’ two game sweep. MSU has won 11 straight games and Morant trails only Belmont’s Austin Luke in assists and is tenth in rebounding.

Missouri Valley Conference

The Missouri Valley’s leading scorer, Evansville’s Ryan Taylor has taken his scoring to the proverbial ‘next level’. Evansville’s scoring machine is this week’s ‘Player of the Week‘ for scoring 55 points last week and has been on an historic tear. Taylor has averaged 27 points per game over the last four outings and has reached the 30-point mark three times in the last nine games.

Loyola freshman Cameron Krutwig continues his outstanding rookie season. For the third time this year the 6’9 center has earned the ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ award. During the Ramblers’ regular season title clinching week Krutwig averaged 15.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and three assists per game.