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:
