INDIANAPOLIS -- Helping Cleveland State collect the biggest upset of the early college basketball season, D’Aundray Brown (Youngstown, Ohio/Ursuline) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, for the week of Nov. 7-Nov. 13. The accolade is the first of Brown’s career.
In his first game since March 2, 2010, Brown led the Vikings to a 71-58 win at No. 7 Vanderbilt, recording a career-high 18 points, eight rebounds and seven steals as Cleveland State (1-0) snapped the Commodores’ 20-game home winning streak over non-conference foes.
Brown’s seven steals were also a career best and helped the Vikings force 21 Vanderbilt turnovers, which Cleveland State turned into 22 points. In 2009-10, Brown was voted to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team before missing last season’s League co-championship run due to a finger injury.
With Vanderbilt trying to mount a late comeback, Brown helped thwart the effort with five points in the final three minutes of play.
Cleveland State will return to the Wolstein Center for two home games this week, beginning with Tuesday’s contest against Rio Grande at 7 p.m. ET. On Friday, Nov. 18, the Vikings host St. Bonaventure at 7 p.m. ET. Both contests will be carried live on the Horizon League Network, available at www.HorizonLeague.com.
Top Performers for the Week:
Chrishawn Hopkins, Butler (So., G) - Sitting out both of Butler’s exhibition games, Hopkins broke out with a career-high 22 points at Evansville. Making his first collegiate start, Hopkins had a game-high five assists and played 39 minutes in the eventual 80-77 overtime defeat.
Nick Minnerath, Detroit (Sr., F) - Minnerath fueled the game’s decisive run in a 95-57 rout of visiting Lake Erie, going 7-of-9 in the first half and recording 19 points in the opening 20 minutes. On the night, the Truro, Mass.-native came up two rebounds shy of a double-double, finishing with 23 points and eight boards.
Alec Brown, Green Bay (So., C) - The sophomore posted back-to-back double-doubles in the season’s first two games, finishing with 18 points and 11 boards in a 94-55 rout of the University of Mary on Friday before finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds in an 84-66 setback at Duquesne.
Walt Gibler, Loyola (Sr., F) - Gibler led Loyola with 19 points and six rebounds in a season-opening loss at Illinois. The senior forward’s effort was his best scoring output since going for a career-best 25 points versus Cleveland State on January 29 last season. 15 of Gibler’s points came in the second half as the Ramblers closed within four points halfway through the frame before falling.
James Haarsma, Milwaukee (Jr., F) - Making his Panther debut after sitting out the 2010-11 season, Haarsma collected 17 rebounds in Milwaukee’s 71-65 victory over Southwest Minnesota State. Haarsma’s total tied for the second best in Milwaukee’s Division I history; 10 of Haarsma’s boards were on the offensive glass. The junior finished a point shy of a double-double.
Ryan Broekhoff, Vanderbilt (Jr., G/F) - The Australian averaged a double-double on the week, tying for game-high scoring honors in a 73-64 loss at No. 16 Arizona with 18 points. In a wild 90-81 road win at Georgia Southern, Broekhoff led the way with 22 points and 13 rebounds, giving him averages of 20.0 ppg and 11.0 rpg on the week.
Reggie Arceneaux, Wright State (Fr., G) - Debuting at No. 3 Ohio State, Arceneaux was Wright State’s second-leading scorer with 11 points in the loss. In the Raiders’ 80-56 home win on Sunday, the freshman chipped in nine points and five rebounds.
Kendrick Perry, Youngstown State (So., G) - Perry led the Penguins to its first road-opening win since 2000, scoring a career-best 28 points in a 76-69 victory over Samford. Equally efficient over both halves, Perry sealed the result with his fourth steal of the game and subsequent dunk with 16 seconds remaining.
Men’s Basketball Players of the Week:
November 14: D’Aundray Brown, Cleveland State
