Brown, Felder Receive #HLMBB Weekly Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Green Bay senior center Alec Brown (Winona, Minn./Winona) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, while Oakland guard Kahlil Felder (Detroit, Mich./Pershing) has been named the Freshman of the Week, for the week of Feb. 10-16. The award is the fourth of the year for Brown and sixth for Felder.

Green Bay (21-5, 11-2 Horizon) moved within a win of clinching the Horizon League’s No. 1 seed for the conference tournament with road victories over Youngstown State, 71-40, and Cleveland State, 68-54. Oakland (10-18, 5-8 Horizon) split results, first beating Detroit, 83-82, in overtime, before a last-second loss to Wright State, 72-71.

Brown dominated both games for Green Bay, shooting 16-of-28 from the field and averaging 21.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Against Youngstown State, Brown was an efficient 11-for-16, posting 24 points and three blocks in 27 minutes of action. Two days later, Brown tied for the team lead with 18 points, hitting 3-of-4 3-point attempts and corralling nine rebounds as Green Bay led by as many as 23 points at second-place Cleveland State.

The weekend’s efforts moved Brown into the top 40 in Horizon League history with 1,619 career points. Brown sits first in Green Bay history with 777 career rebounds, a record he set against Youngstown State. With 78 blocks this season, Brown is 11 from setting a new Phoenix single-season record; the 7-foot-1 center needs 17 blocks to establish the Horizon League career record, which currently stands at 309.

In front of the largest crowd ever at the Athletics Center O’rena, Felder notched just the eighth triple-double in the NCAA this season and the second in the Horizon League. Felder finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists on the night, scoring four of Oakland’s six points in overtime and securing his 10th rebound just ahead of the Golden Grizzlies’ game-winning jumper.

Felder’s 169 assists on the year are an Oakland freshman record, and the lefty continues to pace the conference with 6.0 assists per game. Felder is on pace to become the first freshman to lead the Horizon League in assists since the 1992-93 season.

Green Bay will return to the Resch Center with a chance to clinch a share of its first Horizon League men’s basketball regular season title since the 1995-96 season on Thursday, Feb. 20, hosting Valparaiso (16-11, 8-4 Horizon). Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, with the Horizon League Network providing live coverage.

Looking for its second conference road win, Oakland will travel to UIC (5-21, 0-12 Horizon) on Friday, Feb. 21. ESPN3 will carry the game, with coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

Top Performers for the Week:

• Travis Bader, Oakland (Sr., G) - In Oakland’s 83-82 overtime win against Detroit, Bader knocked down 8-of-13 3-pointers en route to a team-high 30 points. The outburst was the fifth time this season Bader has reached at least 30 points in a game.
• Pat Birt, UIC (Fr., G) - Matching his career high with three 3-pointers, Birt posted 15 points at Youngstown State.
• Jordan Coleman, Valparaiso (Sr., G) - The senior notched his first career double-double in Valpo’s win at Milwaukee, recording 14 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
• Kyle Kelm, Milwaukee (Sr., F) - With 24 points against Valparaiso, Kelm matched his career high. The senior was 8-of-13 from the field in the defeat.
• Juwan Howard, Jr., Detroit (Jr., F) - Howard Jr. went shot-for-shot with Oakland’s Travis Bader on Friday, leading all scorers with 33 points. The output was the second this year Howard Jr. eclipsed 30 points and the 12th time he has posted 20 or more.
• Trey Lewis, Cleveland State (So., G) - Lewis led Cleveland State in scoring twice last week, knocking down 4-of-5 3-pointers en route to 18 points against UIC before posting a game-high 20 points against Green Bay.
• AJ Pacher, Wright State (Sr., F) - Notching his first career double-double, Pacher finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds at Oakland, including the game-winning field goal with 1.6 seconds to play.
• Kendrick Perry, Youngstown State (Sr., G) - Perry set a pair of records this weekend, becoming Youngstown State’s Division I leader in scoring with 1,862 career points. On Saturday, Perry became the Horizon League career steals leader with 238 after notching one against UIC. Perry had 31 points in the win, his sixth game this year with at least 30 points.