Milwaukee's James Eayrs named Men's Basketball Player of the Week

Jan. 19, 2009

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INDIANAPOLIS --- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee junior forward James Eayrs has been named Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week ending Jan. 18.

A native of Roseville, Minn., Eayrs averaged 17.7 points and 10 rebounds off the bench in three Panther victories last week. He started the week with 22 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in UWM's 70-59 victory Monday over Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and finished it with a career-best 23 points and nine rebounds in a 77-75 win Saturday over preseason League favorite Cleveland State University. In between, he had eight points and nine rebounds Thursday in a 69-50 victory over Youngstown State University.

For the week, Eayrs shot 45 percent (18-of-40) from the field, 36 percent (4-of-11) from three-point range and 87 percent (13-of-15) from the free-throw line while adding five steals and three assists. Of his 30 total rebounds, 13 were on the offensive end.

The Panthers (12-6, 7-1 Horizon League) have won seven of their last eight games and enter the week in second place in the Horizon League standings, one-half game behind #16/17 Butler University (16-1, 7-0). Milwaukee will play at Valparaiso University Thursday and then will face Butler Saturday in Indianapolis.

Eayrs came to Milwaukee after scoring 1,156 in two seasons at North Dakota State University College of Science.

Comprised of 10 public and private institutions of higher learning, the Horizon League is an NCAA Division I athletics conference that sponsors 19 intercollegiate championships and is headquartered in Indianapolis. The League and its member institutions aspire to teach young people, through athletic competition, the value of learning, service to others and personal responsibility.

Horizon League teams have enjoyed national success in a variety of sports in recent years, most notably in men's basketball, in which its teams have advanced to the Regional semi-finals of the NCAA Championship three times in the past seven seasons.