INDIANAPOLIS – Green Bay senior guard Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill./Marshall) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, while Oakland freshman forward Jalen Hayes (Lansing, Mich./Sexton) has been named the Freshman of the Week, for the week of Feb.23-March 1.
Sykes won his League-best 13th career Horizon League Player of the Week honor after averaging 28.5 points, 5.5 assist, five rebounds and three steals per game in two Green Bay wins last week. He scored a career-high 36 points and reached 2,000 career points in his hometown on Thursday in GB’s win at UIC. On Saturday, he celebrated Senior Day with 21 points and eight assists and became the first player in the Horizon League history with 2,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds.
On Thursday night in Chicago, the Windy City native scored 21 points by halftime and beat the first half buzzer with a three-pointer to give him 2,002 career points.
Celebrating his Senior Day on Saturday, Sykes scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half and added eight assists, four rebounds and zero turnovers as Green Bay defeated Oakland 83-63, to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Tournament.
For the week, Sykes made 22-of-41 shots from the field for 53.7 percent and connected on 11-of-13 free throws. The outbursts secured the Horizon League’s scoring title for the senior, who is now averaging 18.5 points for the season and 19.7 in league play.
With 2,038 career points, Sykes is tied for sixth place in Horizon League history with Mark Acres of Oral Roberts. With 60 more points, he would rank fifth all-time. He has scored the most points by a Horizon League player in the past decade.
Green Bay is the No. 2 seed in this week’s Horizon League Championship. The Phoenix received a double bye and will begin play on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET in the semifinals.
Hayes collected his sixth Freshman of the Week honor this season after averaging 15.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in two Golden Grizzlies games last week. He recorded his second double-double of the season, his first in points-rebounds, in Oakland’s win over Youngstown State on Wednesday. He scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and had a career-best 11 rebounds versus the Penguins. On Saturday, he just missed garnering his second straight double-double as he finished with 14 points and nine rebounds at Green Bay.
Oakland is the No. 3 seed in the Horizon League Tournament and will open play Friday in the second round at 7 p.m. ET in Valparaiso against the winner of Tuesday’s first round game between No. 6 seed UIC and No. 7 seed Wright State.
Top Performers for the Week:
Bobby Hain, Youngstown State (Jr., F) - Hain averaged a double-double for the week with 13.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. Against Oakland, Hain scored 10 points with 10 rebounds, and had 17 points and 13 rebounds against Milwaukee. Hain also scored the 1,000th point of his career against Milwaukee. He became the 36th player in school history record 1,000 career points.
Jay Harris, UIC (Sr., G) – Harris scored 26 points, his sixth 20+-point performance of the season, on Thursday versus Green Bay. On Saturday, he went 12-for-12 at the foul line and dished out a career-high tying eight assists in the Flames win over Wright State to secure the six-seed.
Brandan Kearney, Detroit (Sr., G) – Kearney scored a team-best 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the Titans win over Valparaiso on Wednesday. He made both of his three-point field goal attempts in the victory.
Marlin Mason, Cleveland State (Sr., F) – Mason scored 12 points, added six rebounds and had two steals in CSU’s regular season finale against Valparaiso.
Corey Petros, Oakland (Sr., C) – Petros recorded his league-best 10th double-double of the year on Saturday at Green Bay with 17 points and 13 rebounds. He matched his season-high with 13 rebounds. He finished the regular season leading the league in rebounding, averaging 8.4 boards per contest.
Matt Tiby, Milwaukee (Jr., F) – Tiby averaged 23.0 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per contests as the Panthers closed the season with two road wins. Tiby shot 13-of-20 from the field, including 8-of-10 from three-point range. He poured in a career-high 24 points, hitting 7-of-9 shots from the field, including all four of his three-point attempts, in UWM’s 61-58 win over Wright State. He scored a team-best 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the win at Youngstown State on Saturday.
Darien Walker, Valparaiso (Jr., G) – Walker scored a game-high 21 points to go along with five rebounds at Detroit. He scored 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists in the Valpo’s regular-season clinching win at Cleveland State.
Top Freshmen for the Week:
Paris Bass, Detroit (Fr., G/F) - Bass stuffed the stat sheet in Detroit’s win over Valparaiso on Wednesday. He scored six points, grabbed four points, passed out three assists, had three steals and blocked two shots in the victory.
Daeshon Francis, Green Bay (Fr., G) – Francis scored a career-high 17 points in the win over Oakland. He knocked down 6-of-7 field goals in the victory and finished the regular season connecting on 63.6% of his field goal attempts.
Justin Jordan, Milwaukee (Fr., G) - Jordan had two points, four rebounds and an assist in the win at Wright State. He had three points and two rebounds in the win at Youngstown State on Saturday.
Tai Odiase, UIC (Fr., F) – Odiase scored 10 points, his second double-digit game of the season, against Green Bay on Thursday. He also had a block against the Phoenix and has 42 on the season.
Tevonn Walker, Valparaiso (Fr., G) – Walker scored nine of his 11 points in the second half as the Crusaders won at Cleveland State to capture the Horizon League regular season title. He was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field against the Vikings, including 3-of-3 from three-point range.
