Wire to Wire for Stark

(St. Louis, MO) – Ohio Valley Conference ‘Preseason Player of the Year‘ Jonathan Stark, is this year’s OVC ‘Player of the Year‘. The Murray State senior led the conference in scoring and the Racers to a conference title.

Stark averaged 21.7 points per game, connected over 100 times from long distance and eclipsed the 2,100 point mark for his illustrious college career. Murray State (24-5, 16-2) is the top seed in this week’s conference tournament and placed three players on the OVC’s ten-man all-conference team.

Senior Terrell Miller and freshman Ja Morant joined Stark on the all-OVC squad. Miller averaged 14.7 points and eight rebounds per game, while Morant, who was also named to the all-newcomer team, averaged 12.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game.

Second place Belmont also placed three players on the first team. Dylan Windler led the conference in double-doubles while Austin Luke  led the league in assists, handing out 7.3 per game. Luke is third on the OVC’s all-time assist list with 660 and is 39 helpers away from the all-time record. Amanze Egekeze posted an outstanding senior season averaging 16.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Third place Austin Peay landed two players on the all-conference team. Freshman Terry Taylor and senior Averyl Ugba represent the Governors. Taylor’s brilliant rookie season catapulted him past Morant as the ‘Freshman of the Year‘. The Bowling Green native averaged 15.2 points per game and 7.9 rebounds. Ugba was an eight-time ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ and was named to the all-newcomer team. The senior transfer averaged 15.0 points and eight rebounds per game.

Last year’s ‘Freshman of the Year‘, Southeast Missouri’s Denzel Mahoney, a second teamer last season jumped into the all conference team. The 6’4 sophomore has already topped the 1,000 point mark, finishing second to Stark in the OVC’s scoring race, netting 19.3 points per game.

Junior Nick Mayo has topped the 1,500 point mark during his three year career at Eastern Kentucky and has been named to his third straight all-conference honor. Mayo has already collected over 500 rebounds.

The second team consists of Tennessee State’s Christian Mekowulu, Curtis Phillips of Tennessee Tech, SIUE’s Jalen Henry, Malcolm Drumwright of Jacksonville State and Eastern Illinois’ Montell Goodwin.

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