(St. Louis, MO) – Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conference teams wrapped up their seasons on Saturday, and Monday the two leagues announced their final weekly award winners.
Wichita State and Illinois State tied for the MVC regular season title, while Belmont ran away with the OVC crown. The three teams lost a combined three games, as they were the clear cut class of their conferences.
Ohio Valley Conference
Jacolby Mobley earned his second ‘Player of the Week’ award after scoring 61 points as UT Martin (20-11, 10-6) closed the season with two victories and a West Division title. Mobley leads the OVC in 3-pointers per game (3.3) and was named to the VHI – All OVC Team.
Claiming his second ‘Newcomer of the Week’ award was Jacksonville State’s 7’ Norbertas Giga. The Lithuanian center averaged ten points and 11 rebounds as the Gamecocks split a pair of games, and earning the fourth seed in this week’s OVC Tournament. Under first year head coach Ray Harper, JSU has returned to Music City Madness for the first time since 2012.
Eastern Kentucky guard Asante Gist probably wrapped up the OVC’s ‘Freshman of the Year’ award, by winning his seventh weekly honor. The New Jersey native scored 38 points and handed out 11 assists in the Colonels’ two season-ending victories. EKU (12-19, 5-11) did not qualify for the conference tournament.
Missouri Valley Conference
Landry Shamet just keeps getting better, and Monday he was named both the ‘Newcomer of the Week’ and the ‘Player of the Week’. It was the fifth time this season that a newcomer has swept the weekly awards. In Sunday’s conference title-sharing win, Shamet recorded career highs in points (23) and rebounds (8). Recently named to the VHI – All Valley Team, the 6’4 freshman handed out eight assists against just one turnover in two Shocker victories.
Head coach Gregg Marshall says after he moved Shamet to point-guard, he has been arguably the best player in the MVC.
Shamet and the Shockers (27-4, 17-1) play Friday night at 6 pm against the winner of Thursday’s game between Bradley and Drake.
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Three more road wins so far in @ValleyHoops as @BradleyUMBB @BelmontMBB & @UIC_MBB capture road wins. Looks like @DrakeBulldogsMB will do so too. #FatherHarry
Well @RacersWBB followed the men's example and swept Iowa in the @ValleyHoops race! Racers are 6-1 & if @BelmontWBB holds on to their Iowa sweep, the Bruins and Racers will be tied for first. What a trip for those two teams! #FatherHarry
After today's action, @EIUWBB is 8-0 in @OVCSports play. 4 teams @usiwbb @TTUWBB @LRTrojans @LindenwoodWBB are tied at 6-2. Six other teams are under .500. Great race to the finish lies ahead. #FatherHarry
Really entertaining game between @BelmontMBB & @UEAthletics_MBB. Under four minutes left in a one point game. Gabriel Pozzato back in the Aces' lineup. Rogers is playing like I've expected. Triples are dropping. It's fun and @kylejpeach bringing it on #ThePlus #FatherHarry
