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Release  Bill Potter · @ ·

INDIANAPOLIS -- Green Bay senior center Alec Brown (Winona, Minn./Winona) and Valparaiso senior guard LaVonte Dority [Chicago, Ill./Foreman (USF)] have been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball co-Players of the Week, while Valparaiso guard Lexus Williams (Chicago, Ill./Marist) has been named the Freshman of the Week, for the week of Jan. 13-19. The award is the third of the season for Brown and second for Williams, while Dority is receiving the honor for the first time in his career.

Green Bay (15-3, 5-0 Horizon) went 2-0 on the road, claiming a 79-69 win at Wright State on Friday night before rallying past UIC, 69-64, on Sunday afternoon. Valparaiso (11-9, 3-2 Horizon) moved into a tie for third place in the conference after going 2-0 on the week with a wins at Detroit, 78-70, and against Milwaukee, 75-62.

In front of a national television audience on ESPNU, Brown went 8-for-11 from the floor en route to 24 points in Green Bay’s win at Wright State. The 7-foot-1 senior followed up the effort with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting at UIC. In his last five games, Brown has reached at least 20 points on four occasions.

Brown eclipsed 1,500 career points over the weekend and now sits 53rd in Horizon League history with 1,524 points in his tenure. With five blocks over the weekend, Brown now is second in conference history with 275 blocks and owns the three highest single-season block totals in Green Bay history. With eight rebounds, Brown will become the first player in Horizon League history with at least 1,500 points, 750 rebounds and 250 blocks.

Dority led Valparaiso to its first road win in conference play with 20 points against Detroit, doing most of his damage at the free-throw line, where he was 13-for-16. The senior erupted for 19 first-half points in Valparaiso’s win over Milwaukee, helping the Crusaders turn an early nine-point deficit into a 10-point halftime lead. Dority finished with 27 points on the afternoon, matching his career high with five 3-pointers.

With 17.4 points per game in conference play, Dority sits fifth in the Horizon League. Overall, Dority’s 16.4 ppg average is seventh.

Williams finished with a career-best 22 points in Valparaiso’s win at Detroit, turning in four assists and four rebounds to supplement a 5-of-7 effort from the floor. The freshman notched 13 of those points in the second half as the Crusaders pulled away in the game’s final 20 minutes. On Saturday, Williams again led Valpo in the second half, scoring 10 of his 12 points, helping the Crusaders hold off Milwaukee.

Among Horizon League freshmen, Williams is second in scoring in conference play with 11.4 ppg. Williams is tied for second in assists among freshmen with 2.4 per contest.

Green Bay will return to the Resch Center for two games this week, hosting Oakland (7-13, 2-3 Horizon) on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 8 p.m. ET. The Horizon League Network will have live coverage. HLN will also carry Green Bay’s game versus Detroit (8-11, 1-4 Horizon) on Sunday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m. ET. Valparaiso will hit the road for its games this weekend, traveling to Youngstown State (12-8, 3-2 Horizon) on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 7:05 p.m. ET, before meeting Cleveland State (11-9, 3-3 Horizon) on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 2 p.m. ET. HLN will have both games live.

Top Performers for the Week:

  • DJ Cole, Youngstown State (Jr., G) - Turned in a career-high 22 points in Youngstown State’s 77-63 win over Detroit, going 6-of-10 from the field while handing out nine assists and corralling six rebounds.
  • Trey Lewis, Cleveland State (So., G) - Lewis erupted for 29 points in the Vikings’ 86-76 victory over Oakland two days after draining a career-best five 3-pointers at Youngstown State. On Sunday, Lewis set a career high with 10 rebounds against Wright State.
  • Tommie McCune, Oakland (So., F) - McCune had a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds in Oakland’s 86-76 loss at Cleveland State.
  • Kendrick Perry, Youngstown State (Sr., G) - Going 10-of-15 from the floor, Perry carried Youngstown State to a 67-66 win over Cleveland State, scoring the final 12 points of the game for the Penguins. Perry finished with 31 points, his fifth game this season with 30 or more points.
  • Keifer Sykes, Green Bay (Jr., G) - Entered the top 100 in Horizon League career scoring with 1,241 career points after averaging 19.5 points and 5.5 assists per game last week as the Phoenix went 2-0.
  • Matt Tiby, Milwaukee (So., F) - Going 10-of-17 from the floor on the week, Tiby had 13 points at UIC before posting a new collegiate best with 22 points in Milwaukee’s road loss at Valparaiso.
  • Juwan Howard, Jr., Detroit (Jr., F) - Against Valparaiso, Howard Jr. set a career high with 35 points, exactly half of Detroit’s final total. Howard Jr. followed up the effort with a team-high 20 in a loss at Youngstown State. Howard Jr. has now scored 20 or more points on seven occasions this year.
  • Jerran Young, Wright State (Sr., F) - Led Wright State in scoring with 13 points against Green Bay and 10 in the Raiders’ 49-46 win at Cleveland State. Young’s dunk in the defeat to Green Bay was featured among Sports Center’s Top 10 plays.


Men’s Basketball Player of the Week:
Nov. 11: Kendrick Perry, Youngstown State
Nov. 18: Steve McWhorter, Milwaukee
                Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Nov. 25: Alec Brown, Green Bay
Dec. 2: Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Dec. 9: Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Dec. 16: Kelsey Barlow, UIC
Dec. 23: Travis Bader, Oakland
                Alec Brown, Green Bay
Dec. 30: Shawn Amiker, Youngstown State
Jan. 6: Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Jan. 13: Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Jan. 20: Alec Brown, Green Bay
               LaVonte Dority, Valparaiso

Men’s Basketball Freshman of the Week:
Nov. 11: Alec Peters, Valparaiso
Nov. 18: Kahlil Felder, Oakland
Nov. 25: Alec Peters, Valparaiso
Dec. 2: Lexus Williams, Valparaiso
Dec. 9: Matthew Grant, Detroit
Dec. 16: Alec Peters, Valparaiso
Dec. 23: Kahlil Felder, Oakland
Dec. 30: Pat Birt, UIC
Jan. 6: Jarod Williams, Detroit
Jan. 13:  Kahlil Felder, Oakland
Jan. 20: Lexus Williams, Valparaiso

Tags: Green Bay - Men's Basketball · Horizon League - Men's Basketball · Valparaiso - Men's Basketball
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