INDIANAPOLIS -- Lifting Youngstown State to two League wins, junior guard Blake Allen (Tampa, Fla./Brandon) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, for the week of Jan. 16-22. The accolade is the first of Allen’s career, and he helps Youngstown State become the first men’s basketball team to have four different players of the week in one season since Loyola in 1984-85.
Going 10-for-13 from three-point range, Allen led Youngstown State (11-8, 6-3 Horizon) to a 2-0 weekend in conference play, keeping the Penguins in a tie for third place, one game behind League co-leaders Valparaiso and Cleveland State. Allen started the weekend on fire, scoring a career-best 27 points in YSU’s 68-66 win over then League-leader Milwaukee on Friday. In the first half of the game, Allen was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, including a 6-for-6 mark from three-point range. Allen finished 8-for-10 and 7-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc.
Allen continued his sharpshooting on Sunday as Youngstown State posted its largest win as a Horizon League member, 77-47, over Green Bay. The junior led all scorers with 16 points, knocking down three of his five attempts from three-point range.
Entering the weekend, Allen ranked eighth in the NCAA with 3.1 three-point field goals per game; his 43.1-percent mark from three-point range ranked 33rd nationally. Allen joins DuShawn Brooks, Damian Eargle and Ashen Ward as Penguins who have collected player of the week honors.
Youngstown State will have a chance to sweep the season series from Cleveland State (17-4, 7-2 Horizon) on Saturday, Jan. 28, when the Penguins host the Vikings. The Horizon League Network will have live coverage, beginning at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Top Performers for the Week:
-- Ronald Nored, Butler (Sr., G) - With 16 assists in Butler’s 2-0 road trip to Chicago, Nored became the fifth player in Butler history to record 400 career assists. The senior set a career high with nine assists in Butler’s 63-57 win at Loyola, adding a game-high 16 points.
-- Tim Kamczyc, Cleveland State (Jr., F) - A perfect 8-for-8 from the floor, Kamczyc posted identical lines of 12 points, four rebounds and three assists in Cleveland State’s wins over Green Bay and Milwaukee. In battle to move into a first-place tie, Kamczyc was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range.
-- Chase Simon, Detroit (Sr., G) - Leading all scorers with 16 points in Detroit’s 69-53 win over Wright State, Simon moved into 22nd place in the Detroit record book with 1,222 career points, just 15 from 21st. Simon knocked down four of the Titans’ season-high nine three-pointers in the game.
-- Joe Crisman, Loyola (Fr., G) - Crisman averaged 10.5 points on the weekend, matching his career high with 14 points in Loyola’s 63-57 setback to Butler. The freshman went 8-for-11 from the floor, knocking down all four of his three-point attempts.
-- Paris Carter, UIC (Sr., F) - Carter tallied his third double-digit scoring output of the season with 11 points against first-place Valparaiso. For the week, he averaged 9.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game on an efficient 70 percent effort from the floor.
-- Kevin Van Wijk, Valparaiso (Jr., F) - Among the nation’s leaders in field-goal percentage, Van Wijk went 14-for-21 from the floor in two Valpo wins last weekend. In the Crusaders’ 60-55 win at UIC, Van Wijk notched 20 points, his third game with 20 or more points in his last four outings.
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
