INDIANAPOLIS – Green Bay senior guard Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill./Marshall) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, while Detroit freshman guard/forward Paris Bass (Birmingham, Mich./Seaholm) has been named the Freshman of the Week, for the week of Nov. 24-30.
Sykes earned the player of the week nod after leading the Phoenix to the Gulf Coast Showcase Title. The Chicago, Ill., native began the tournament with 12 points, five rebounds and a game-high five assists as the Phoenix defeated East Carolina, 66-49. In the second round, Sykes had a game-best 20 points, shooting 9-of-12 on field goals inside the three-point arc, while adding a game-high eight rebounds and a team-best three assists in Green Bay’s 64-62 win over Evansville. Evansville had a 55-54 lead with 5:26 to play, but Sykes answered with a three-point play to put the Phoenix in front to stay. After a defensive stop on the other end, Sykes knocked down another jumper and Green Bay led 59-55 with 4:15 remaining. He added another basket to later in the game to put the Phoenix in front 63-59 with 2:12 to play. In the championship game on Wednesday night, Sykes had a game-best 19 points, while adding five rebounds, five assists and a game-high three steals as the Phoenix handed Florida Gulf Coast its first loss of the season, 59-45. Evansville (15) and Florida Gulf Coast (16) are both ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll.
Sykes was named the tournament most valuable player of the Gulf Coast Showcase after averaging 17 points, six rebounds and 4.8 assists.
This marks Sykes’ 11th career Horizon League Player of the Week honor, surpassing Rashad Phillips of Detroit (10) for the most ever.
Green Bay (5-1) has three games on the schedule for this week. They play just their second home game of the season on Monday night versus Minnesota-Duluth before hitting the road to play at Georgia State – ranked 13th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll – on Thursday and at #17/20 Miami (Fla.) on Saturday.
Bass garnered freshman of the week honors for the second consecutive week after averaging 14.0 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per contest in three Titan games last week. He opened the week with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds in Detroit’s 69-55 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore. The next night, he had his first career double-double, recording 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Titans defeated Toledo – ranked 10th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll – 82-79. Bass finished the week with a career-high 17 points and a career-best four steals as Detroit fell to Bowling Green on a buzzer-beater, 64-63.
Detroit (4-3) returns to the court Monday night versus Aquinas College before closing the week by hosting South Florida.
Top Performers for the Week:
Juwan Howard Jr., Detroit (Sr., F) - Howard Jr., was named the Progressive Legends Classic sub-regional MVP. He scored a game-high 28 points in the win over Toledo.
Marcus Keene, Youngstown State (So., G) - Keene averaged a League-best 25.0 ppg., last week for the Penguins. He scored 21 points, including the game-winning three-pointer with 4.2 seconds left, in YSU’s 66-63 win over UMKC. On Saturday, he scored a career-high 29 points, knocking down five three-pointers, in an overtime loss at Illinois State.
Trey Lewis, Cleveland State (Jr., G) – Lewis averaged 19.0 ppg., 4.5 rpg., and 4.0 apg., for the Vikings as they split two road games. He scored a game-high 24 points in CSU’s loss at sixth-ranked Louisville.
Steve McWhorter, Milwaukee (Sr., G) - McWhorter ran his string of games with 10 or more points to a career-best six by reaching double digits in all three games last week as Milwaukee went 2-1 and also won the Middleweight Bracket of the MGM Grand Main Event in Las Vegas. After recording his first career double-double with 18 points and a career-high-tying 10 boards in a win versus Louisiana, he poured in a career-best 21 points against Oral Roberts before going for 17 points in a win over Concordia-St. Paul.
Alec Peters, Valparaiso (So., F) – Peters was named the MVP of the Challenge in Music City. He scored 26 points on 9-14 field goals, including 5-8 from three-point range, in Valpo’s 93-58 win over Murray State. He added 20 points, including 15 in the first half, as the Crusaders handed Portland its first loss of the season on Sunday.
Corey Petros, Oakland (Sr., C) – Petros recorded two double-doubles last week and now has 23 for his career. In four games, he averaged 16 ppg., while shooting 69.2% from the field (27-39) and 8.5 rpg.
Jake Wiegand, UIC (Jr., F) – Wiegand averaged 15.5 ppg., and 9.0 rpg., in two games for the Flames last week. He had 20 points and 12 rebounds in UIC”s win over Saint Xavier. It was his third double-double of the year, tied for tops in the League.
JT Yoho, Wright State (Jr., F) - Yoho was the Raiders leading scorer and rebounder in all three of their games at the Spartanburg Marriott Upstate Classic. He had a weekend-high 20 points on Thursday versus Cal-State Fullerton. For the weekend, he averaged 17.7 ppg., and 8.0 rpg.
Top Freshman for the Week:
Terrell Hales, Cleveland State (Fr., G) – Hales grabbed 10 rebounds in two road games last week for the Vikings. He added a pair of steals and a blocked shot off the bench.
Justin Jordan, Milwaukee (Fr., G) - In only eight minutes of action in a 56-52 victory over Louisiana, Jordan tallied seven points and did not miss a shot from the field or foul line, then chipped in six points in a loss to Oral Roberts before wrapping up the week with eight points and four boards against Concordia-St. Paul.
Tai Odiase, UIC (Fr., F/C) - Odiase had 14 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots in two games last week. He has 15 blocks on the season to rank second in the League with an average of 2.1 per contest.
Tevonn Walker, Valparaiso (Fr., G) - Walker stuffed the stat sheet in Valpo’s three games at the Challenge in Music City. He finished the three-game tournament with 21 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks in three Crusader wins.
Men’s Basketball Player of the Week:
Nov. 10: Chrishawn Hopkins, Wright State
Nov. 17: Alec Peters, Valparaiso
Nov. 24: Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Men’s Basketball Freshman of the Week:
Nov. 10: Justin Jordan, Milwaukee
Nov. 17: Paris Bass, Detroit
Nov. 24: Paris Bass, Detroit
