INDIANAPOLIS -- Leading Green Bay and Milwaukee to unblemished records on the week, Phoenix freshman guard Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill./Marshall) and Panthers senior forward Tony Meier (Wildwood, Mo./Wildwood) have been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Co-Players of the Week, for the week of Feb. 20-26. The honor is the first of Sykes’s career and second for Meier.
Sykes lifted Green Bay (15-14, 10-8 Horizon) to a 3-0 week, helping the Phoenix win its last four conference games. The freshman averaged 17.7 points and 6.3 assists per game. Since turning 18 on Dec. 30, Sykes is averaging 15.1 ppg and 4.8 apg and has reached double figures in 10 straight games and 15-of-16.
After a 13-point, 4-assist effort in Green Bay’s 71-67 win over Cleveland State, Sykes returned to his native Chicago, turning in 13 points and eight assists as the Phoenix collected a 73-70 overtime victory against Loyola. Wrapping up the regular season, Sykes tallied the most points scored by a Phoenix since Dec. 19, 2009, scoring 27 while turning in six assists in Green Bay’s 71-65 win at UIC.
Meier eclipsed the 1,000-point mark as Milwaukee (19-12, 11-7 Horizon) claimed the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League Tournament, becoming the sixth player in the Horizon League to reach the mark this year. The senior went 14-for-20 from the floor in wins at UIC and Loyola, knocking down 11 of his 16 attempts from three-point range.
After a 17-point effort in Thursday’s 72-61 victory at UIC, Meier led the Panthers with 26 in Saturday’s 78-69 win over Loyola. The senior now has 1,011 career points.
The No. 7 seed in the Horizon League Tournament, Green Bay will head to Youngstown State (15-14, 10-8 Horizon) on Tuesday, Feb. 28, for a first round game. The Horizon League Network will have live coverage of the game at 7:05 p.m. ET. Milwaukee will host No. 9 UIC (8-21, 3-15 Horizon) on Tuesday in a first round tournament game at 8 p.m. ET, with HLN providing the feed.
Top Performers for the Week:
-- Trey Harmon, Cleveland State (Sr., G) - Harmon helped lead Cleveland State to the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Tournament, averaging 16.3 ppg as the Vikings went 2-1 last week. The senior set a new CSU single-season record, knocking down seven three-pointers on the week to set a new program mark of 71 triples in a year.
-- Chase Simon, Detroit (Sr., G) - The senior registered his fourth career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds at Cleveland State, following up the effort with 16 points a in 76-74 win at Youngstown State that lifted Detroit to the No. 3 seed in the Horizon League Tournament.
-- Will Bogan, Valparaiso (Sr., G) - Bogan hit key three-pointers in Valparaiso’s regular-season championship clinching win over Loyola and in Friday’s victory over Butler. The senior finished with 16 against Loyola, giving the Crusaders a lead they would not relinquish halfway through overtime; Bogan backed it up with two early threes against Butler as Valpo did not trail in a 71-59 win.
Men’s Basketball Players of the Week:
November 14: D’Aundray Brown, Cleveland State
November 21: Kevin Van Wijk, Valparaiso
November 28: James Haarsma, Milwaukee
December 5: DuShawn Brooks, Youngstown State
December 12: Trey Harmon, Cleveland State
December 19: Andrew Smith, Butler
December 26: Brennan Cougill, Green Bay; Julius Mays, Wright State
January 2: Damian Eargle, Youngstown State
January 9: Julius Mays, Wright State; Ashen Ward, Youngstown State
January 16: Kevin Van Wijk, Valparaiso
January 23: Blake Allen, Youngstown State
January 30: Ray McCallum, Detroit
February 6: Kendrick Perry, Youngstown State
February 13: Roosevelt Jones, Butler
February 20: Ben Averkamp, Loyola
February 27: Keifer Sykes, Green Bay; Tony Meier, Milwaukee
Tags: Green Bay - Men's Basketball · Milwaukee - Men's Basketball
