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BAY CITY, Mich. - Northwood University senior forward Bobby Lewis (Saginaw, Mich./Mott C.C.) and Ashland University junior forward Evan Yates (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) have been chosen as the GLIAC Men's Basketball North and South Division "Players of the Week", respectively.
GLIAC North Division Player
of the Week:
Bobby Lewis
Northwood
6-3, Senior, Forward
Saginaw, Mich./Mott C.C.
Northwood senior forward Bobby Lewis averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in a pair of Northwood road wins last week. Lewis shot 56.5 percent from the floor (13-23), 44.4 percent from 3-point range (4-9) and 100 percent from the foul line (11-11) for the week. Against Ohio Dominican, Lewis had 15 points and five rebounds while going 6-8 from the floor. He then matched his career-high with 26 points while grabbing 12 rebounds against Tiffin. It was Lewis’ sixth career double-double.
North Division Weekly Honor Roll: Drew Lehman - FS, James Thomas - GV, Derek Kinney - LS, Ben Stelzer - MT, Greg Foster - SV.
2011-12 North Division "Players of the Week":
(11/15) B. Lewis - NU; (11/21) C. Webb - SV; (11/28) K. Brown
- FS; (12/5) J. Thomas - GV; (12/12) A. Haidar - MT; (12/20) N.
Waddell - GV; (1/3) B. Hogan - GV; (1/9) K. Hunt - LS; (1/17) M.
Schaaf - SV; (1/23) B. Lewis - NU.
GLIAC South Division Player
of the Week:
Evan Yates
Ashland
6-6, Junior, Foward
Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills
Junior forward Evan Yates averaged a double-double in a pair of wins last week over Saginaw Valley State and Lake Superior State that extended AU’s winning streak to seven. He averaged 22.5 points and 11.5 rebounds and shot .739 (17-for-23) from the field. Yates leads the nation in rebounding and is the GLIAC’s leading scorer. On Thursday against the Cardinals, Yates scored 25 points and pulled down 17 rebounds. He followed that with a 20-point, 6-rebound performance over the Lakers on Saturday.
South Division Weekly Honor Roll: Kyle Caiola - UF, Brad Guinane - HC, Rich Austin - LE, Aaron Gibbs - ODU, Joe Graessle - TU, Ike Udanoh - WS.
2011-12 South Division "Players of the Week": (11/15) T.Spahr - TU; (11/21) K. Finley - TU; (11/28) I. Udanoh - WS; (12/5) N. Washburn - HC; (12/12) E. Yates - AU; (12/20) C. Prophet - WS; (1/3) B. Guinane - HC; (1/9) R. Steward - AU; (1/17) I. Udanoh - WS; (1/23) E. Yates - AU .
Ashland Eagles
The Eagles extended their winning streak to seven games with a pair of home wins over Saginaw Valley State and Lake Superior State last week. It is the Eagles’ longest winning streak since the 2002-03 season when they opened the season with eight straight wins... Junior forward Evan Yates (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) led the Eagles, averaging a double-double (22.5 points, 11.5 rebounds per game) while shooting 73.9 percent (17-for-23) from the field. Yates leads the country in rebounding (12.2) and is the GLIAC’s leading scorer (21.2). He is third in the GLIAC in field goal percentage (.590). Against the Cardinals on Thursday, Yates scored 25 points and pulled down 17 rebounds. The Eagles shot 75 percent (15-for-20) in the second half of that game to pull away with a 72-52 win after leading by five points at halftime. The Eagles won a thriller over the Lakers on Saturday in overtime, 78-74. The Eagles led for the entirety of regulation until the Lakers tied the game with 10 seconds to play. Redshirt-freshman guard DaWuan Thomas (Dayton, Ohio/Trotwood-Madison) scored seven of his 11 points in the overtime period. He is averaging 13.9 points in the last seven games – all starts.
Ferris State Bulldogs
FSU trailed by 12 points at halftime, but rallied back to stun Northern Michigan 69-55 in GLIAC play on Saturday (Jan. 21) afternoon at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. The Bulldogs moved back into a first-place tie atop the GLIAC North Division standings with the win as Michigan Tech fell to Grand Valley State at home in Saturday’s action. FSU hosts GVSU on Saturday (Jan. 28) at FSU’s Jim Wink Arena... Freshman guard Drew Lehman (Toledo, Ohio) tallied a personal career-high 23 points to key the comeback win while junior guard Kenny Brown (Farmington Hills/Harrison) added 13 points and senior guard Dontae Molden (Detroit/Pershing) totaled 12 points... Ferris State outscored Northern Michigan 44-18 over the course of the second half as the game featured a complete turnaround. NMU managed to make only four field goals in the second period... The Bulldog reserves outscored NMU’s bench by a 31-4 margin for the game. Lehman scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half of action for the Bulldogs.
Findlay
Oilers
The Oilers came away with a 90-73
win at home over #14 Hillsdale on Thursday. The Oilers built
a 47-24 advantage at the break thanks to a 16-0 run in the final
3:08 of the first half. The win was the Oilers 72nd straight
over a GLIAC opponent in Croy Gymnasium. Senior guard Kyle
Caiola led the charge with a season-high 22 points. He also
added six assists, three steals and two rebounds in the win.
Junior forward Jack Smith came off the bench to provide 16 points
while junior guard Aaron Robinson and junior forward Brad Piehl
contributed 14 and 13 points, respectively. The Oilers shot
61.7 percent from the field in the game, their second best shooting
night on the season. Caiola leads the team with a 14.2 points
per game average while sophomore forward Greg Kahlig is recording
13.1 points per outing.
Grand Valley State Lakers
The Lakers captured a season sweep of GLIAC North Division leader Michigan Tech on Saturday afternoon in Houghton, defeating the Huskies 64-50. GVSU jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half, with MTU not scoring its first points until the 10:49 mark. The Lakers led by as many as 19 points in the second half on Saturday. On Dec. 19 in Allendale, GVSU outlasted Michigan Tech 70-68 in overtime…senior guard James Thomas (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids CC) totaled a game-high 22 points and six rebounds in the win over MTU, shooting 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range. Thomas tallied a double-double of 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds at Northern Michigan on Thursday. For the week, Thomas averaged 17.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game…junior guard Breland Hogan (Detroit, MIch./Kennedy) provided game-highs of 15 points and seven steals against NMU. His career-high seven thefts are the most by a GLIAC player this season.
Hillsdale Chargers
The Hillsdale College men’s basketball team suffered its first conference loss of the season Thursday night at the University of Findlay…The Chargers haven’t won at Findlay’s Croy Gymnasium since Jan. 24, 2002…Ths loss snapped the team’s nine-game GLIAC winning streak and overall 11-game winning streak…Despite the loss, the Chargers are maintaining a two-game lead on every other team in the conference in the overall standings…One of the teams tied for second overall, Michigan Tech, will visit Hillsdale in a key inter-division battle Saturday afternoon…Two players – Brad Guinane and Tyler Gerber – are closing in on 1,000 career points. Gerber has 966 points while Guinane has 956 points…Gerber is ranked 4th in school history in career assists with 418…The Chargers play their next three consecutive games at home, but only have one remaining home game in the regular season after Feb. 1.
Lake Erie Storm
Lake Erie (7-9, 2-7 GLIAC) dropped a couple of tough cross-divisional GLIAC game this week, falling to Lake Superior State, 73-69, Thursday and 68-51 against Saginaw Valley State Saturday. Against Lake Superior State, Lake Erie nearly overcame a 12-point deficit in the final 1:40, cutting the deficit to just two points. Both teams were red-hot from the field. Lake Superior State shot 56.2%(18-of-32) in the first half and 51.9% for the game (27-of-52). That slightly edge the Storm which shot 51.8% (29-of-56) for the game including 56.7% (17-of-30) in the second half. Lake Erie was led by sophomore guards Riley Thomas (Cardington, Ohio/Cardington-Lincoln) and Nate Tait (South Euclid, Ohio/Brush/Alderson-Broaddus) with 17 points each. Against SVSU, the Storm was led by sophomore center Rich Austin (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) with game-highs of 19 points and nine rebounds. Austin leads Lake Erie with 12.6 ppg. and 6.3 rpg. on the season. Thomas and Tait also average in double-figures at 10.6 and 10.5 ppg. The Storm embarks on a three-game road trip starting Thursday at Findlay.
Lake Superior State Lakers
LSSU dropped to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the GLIAC in overtime contests following Saturday’s 78-74 OT loss at Ashland. Senior guard Kyle Hunt (Macomb, Mich.) averaged 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game to lead the Lakers for the week, while junior forward Derek Kinney (Romulus, Mich.) contributed 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds. Hunt is ranked sixth in the GLIAC in scoring at 16.3 points per game, while Kinney is 11th in rebounding at 6.8 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Alex Williams (Benton Harbor, Mich.), who was 6-of-15 (.400) from three-point range for the week, is ranked third in the GLIAC in average three-point field goals per game at 2.3. Sophomore center Cameron Metz (Grand Rapids, Mich.) scored a season-high 16 points during last Thursday’s 73-69 win at Lake Erie. Kinney’s 15 points against Ashland was his highest total since scoring 16 at Northwood on Dec. 3. LSSU celebrates Laker Basketball Alumni Weekend when it plays host to Tiffin on Saturday. The Lakers are 1-5 all-time against TU and 1-0 all-time against Thursday’s opponent, Ohio Dominican.
Michigan Tech Huskies
Michigan Tech split a pair of games
last week defeating Ferris State (67-54) and loosing to Grand
Valley State (50-64). Freshman Ben Stelzer scored a career-high 21
points thanks to a career-high six 3-pointers. He also tallied a
career-high six steals. Junior Matt Esters set season-highs in
points (six) and rebounds (three) and set career-highs in assists
(three) and steals (two). Freshman Phil Romback recorded
career-highs in both points (seven) and rebounds (seven) against
Grand Valley. The Huskies are 6-0 this when they out shoot their
opponents and 4-0 on Thursdays. Tech leads the GLIAC in both field
goal percentage (.499) and 3-point field goal percentage (.406).
Tech will play at Northwood Thursday and Hillsdale Saturday.
Northern Michigan Wildcats
The Northern
Michigan men’s basketball team is now 8-9 overall and 4-6 in
the GLIAC…The Wildcats split a pair of conference games,
defeating Grand Valley State 62-57 and falling to Ferris State
69-55…Sophomore forward Matthew Craggs led NMU is scoring
against GVSU with 14 points and seven rebounds… Senior
center Jared Benson led the ‘Cats in the loss against Ferris
State with 18 points and tied a career-high with five
blocks…The ‘Cats held a 37-25 advantage at the half
before being outscored 44-18 in the final 20 minutes in the loss to
FSU…NMU ranks 31st in the country in field goal percentage
defense at 40.5 percent and 24th in three-point field goal defense
at 30.2 percent…NMU returns to the road this week, traveling
to Northwood (Jan. 26) and Hillsdale (Jan. 28).
Northwood Timberwolves
Northwood earned a pair of road wins last week, defeating Ohio Dominican 70-65 before beating Tiffin 79-68 ... the Timberwolves have won five of six overall to stand at 10-6 overall, 6-4 in the GLIAC ... NU is now one game out of first place in the GLIAC North Division ... Bobby Lewis (Saginaw, Mich./Mott CC) led the way for the Timberwolves, averaging 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game ... Lewis shot 56.5 percent from the floor (13-23), 44.4 percent from 3-point range (4-9) and 100 percent from the foul line (11-11) for the week ... against Ohio Dominican, Lewis had 15 points and five rebounds while going 6-8 from the floor ... he then matched his career-high with 26 points while grabbing 12 rebounds against Tiffin ... it was Lewis’ sixth career double-double ... NU also got big statistical games from Wes Wilcox (Roselle, Ill./Harper) and Cameron Joyce (Akron, Ohio/St. Vincent St. Mary’s) against Tiffin ... Wilcox had 11 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, while Joyce finished with 13 assists and zero turnovers.
Ohio Dominican Panthers
The Panthers dropped both of their GLIAC contests last week, falling 70-65 to Northwood and 71-48 to Wayne State…ODU’s offense struggled to click as the Panthers shot just 40.2 percent from the field (43-of-107) and 23.5 percent (8-of-34) from beyond the arc, and the Panthers were also outrebounded 78-52 last week….Senior forward Aaron Gibbs (Oberlin, Ohio) and junior guard Morgan Jones (Oberlin, Ohio) had identical weeks, averaging 13.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game as each shot 11-of-24 from the field…Senior center Zak Kapron (Malvern, Ohio) knocked down 7-of-11 shots and averaged 10.5 points and 4.0 boards per contest…Gibbs, who played as a freshman at Presbyterian College, has scored 928 points in his career.
Saginaw Valley State Cardinals
SVSU finished the week 2-1 with victories over Central State on Tuesday (Jan. 17) and Lake Erie on Saturday (Jan. 21), while falling to Ashland on Thursday (Jan. 19)… Greg Foster and Eli Redman led SVSU over Central State with 15 points each… Foster and Redman posted 16 points apiece in the win over Lake Erie while Chris Webb dropped in 15 points in the Cardinals’ first road win of the season… Webb leads SVSU in scoring at 14.5 points per game and ranks 10th in the conference. Greg Foster ranks third in the GLIAC in assists (4.5), 5th in minutes played (33.3), 6th in steals (1.6), and 14th in rebounds (6.2) and 15th in points (13.6). SVSU is third in the conference in free throw percentage at 74.1 percent and ranks 26th nationally. Brett Beland leads the GLIAC and ranks 9th nationally in free throw percentage at 93.2, on 55-of-59 shooting from the line.
Tiffin Dragons
The Dragons went 1-1 on the
week…On Jan.19, Tiffin used a blitzing attack and hot
shooting to beat Wayne State for the first time ever, 83-77…
Down 13 at half time, TU outscored the Warriors 20-6 in the first
four minutes of the second half … The Dragons took the lead
for good with 4:52 to go … TU shot 75% (21-28) from the
floor and 66.7% (8-12) from the arc in the second half …
Karl Finley led the scoring with 32 points … Tiffin fell
79-68 to Northwood on Jan. 21 … Joe Graessle had 19 points
and Finley scored 18 … Joe Graessle is sixth with 128
3-pointers made and fifth with 347 3-point attempts.
Wayne State Warriors
Wayne State allowed the most points to a GLIAC opponent this year in the Jan. 19 83-77 setback at Tiffin … it was the most points scored since Saginaw Valley tallied 87 points in a double overtime affair on Dec. 9, 2010 … after limiting the Dragons to 23 first-half points, TU scored 24 points in the first five minutes of the second half … five Warriors scored in double figures in the Tiffin contest, including senior center Ike Udanoh (Detroit, Mich./Warren Woods Tower) who recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds … the Jan. 21 match at Ohio Dominican was much different for the WSU defense as the Panthers scored 16 first-half points on 4-of-25 from the floor (8-9 FT) … sophomore forward Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup), making his first start of the season and only second of his career, scored 19 first-half points and finished with a career-high 27 (9-20 FG, 2-6 3-PT, 7-7 FT) … Wayne State begins a stretch of five home games in the next seven contests by hosting Ashland and Lake Erie this week.