Click here for printer-friendly (PDF) version of release
BAY CITY, Mich. - Northwood University senior forward Bobby Lewis (Saginaw, Mich./Mott C.C.) and University of Findlay senior guard Kyle Caiola (Parma, Ohio/Normandy) 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.
Senior forward Bobby Lewis led
Northwood to a pair of wins last week, averaging 17.5 points and
4.0 rebounds per game. Lewis shot 68.4 percent from the floor
(13-19) and 60.0 percent from 3-point range. Lewis currently
ranks tied for seventh in the GLIAC in scoring at 16.5 points per
game, while ranking 17th in rebounding with 5.8 boards per game. He
has led Northwood to a seven-game winning streak, which matches a
school record. The Timberwolves currently share the GLIAC
North Division lead.
North Division Weekly Honor Roll: Kenny Brown - FS, James Thomas - GV, Austin Armga - MT, Eli Redman - 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; (1/30) D. Billing - LS;
(2/6) J. Thomas - GV; (2/13) B. Lewis - NU; (2/20) B.
Lewis - NU.
GLIAC South Division Player
of the Week:
Kyle Caiola
Findlay
5-10, Senior, Guard
Parma, Ohio/Normandy
Senior guard Kyle Caiola led the Oilers to a pair of wins at home last week. During the week, Caiola averaged 18.5 points, 6.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals per contest. He also hit 93.8 percent (15-of-16) of his free throw attempts, 56.3 percent (9-of-16) of his field goal attempts and 50.0 percent (4-of-8) of his shots from behind the arc. In the Oilers’ 68-57 win over GVSU, Caiola had 12 points, six assists and four rebounds. He then followed with a season-high 25 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the Oilers’ 74-69 win over FSU.
South Division Weekly Honor Roll: Evan Yates - AU, Nick Washburn - HC, Jamil Dudley - LE, Joe Mochoskay - OD, Jeo 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; (1/30) T. Gerber - HC; (1/17) I. Udanoh - WS; (2/13) J. Graessle - TU; (2/20) K. Caiola - UF.
Ashland Eagles
The Eagles clinched at least the eighth spot in the GLIAC Tournament with a pair of wins last week over Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan. The Eagles clinched the first 10-win GLIAC season under third-year coach John Ellenwood and the 15 wins overall are the most under Ellenwood at AU. On Thursday, the Eagles and Huskies went into halftime tied 34-34. The Eagles limited the league’s top-shooting team to just 32.4 percent in the final 20 minutes to close out a 73-59 win at Kates Gymnasium. Junior forward Evan Yates (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) poured in 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the season. He was one of four AU scorers in double figures for the game. Against the Wildcats, the Eagles led for the entirety of the second half after leading, 45-36, at halftime. Yates scored a game-high 24 points and junior guard Ronnie Steward (Columbus, Ohio/Akron) added 20 points, shooting 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
Ferris State Bulldogs
FSU led for much of the way, but came out on the short end of a 74-69 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) road decision against Findlay on Saturday (Feb. 18) at UF’s Croy Gymnasium in Findlay, Ohio... FSU jumped out to a 41-33 halftime advantage against the Oilers before a near sellout crowd. Junior guard Kenny Brown tallied 15 points in the first half as the Bulldogs shot 60% from the field in the initial stanza... The Oilers held FSU scoreless over a big stretch of the final 10 minutes of the second half and knocked down some crucial free throws down the wire to pull out the win... Ferris State also suffered a heart-breaking 72-69 overtime road loss at Wayne State on Thursday (Feb. 16) night...With the two losses, FSU is now tied with Northwood atop the GLIAC North Division standings with two games left in the regular-season. Michigan Tech trails the two schools by a single game heading into the final week of regular-season play...The Bulldogs have clinched a spot in the GLIAC Postseason Tournament and could still potentially host a first-round quarterfinal game on Feb. 29 at Wink Arena.
Findlay
Oilers
The Oilers won a pair of home games
last week, winning 68-57 against Grand Valley State University on
Thursday and 74-69 against Ferris State University on
Saturday. In the win over the Lakers, senior guard Kyle
Caiola led the team with 12 points, six assists and four
rebounds. The Oilers hit a season-high 13-of-24 (54.2%) three
point shots in the game and connected on 54.5 percent (24-of-44) of
their field goal attempts. In the win over Ferris State,
Caiola registered a season-high 25 points to go along with seven
assists and five rebounds. In the two games, the Oilers made
a total of 47 field goals and had assists on 38 of those
buckets. On the year, Caiola leads the team with averages of
14.2 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game. Sophomore
forward Greg Kahlig is averaging 13.5 points and 5.0 rebounds while
also shooting 45.8 percent (33-of-72) from behind the three point
line.
Grand Valley State Lakers
The Lakers dropped a pair of road
contests at Findlay and Wayne State last week. Grand Valley State
closes out the regular season on Saturday night at 8 p.m. in
Allendale against Ferris State. It is the only game of the week for
GVSU…senior guard James Thomas (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand
Rapids CC) poured in a game-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting
against Wayne State on Saturday afternoon. He was a perfect 5-for-5
from three-point range, which is the most made three-pointers
without a miss in the GLIAC this season. Thomas totaled those 26
points in just 24 minutes against the Warriors. The last Laker to
go 5-for-5 from three-point range in a game was Pete Trammell, who
buried five trifectas against Columbus State on Nov. 9,
2007…junior guard Tony Peters (Middletown, Ohio) notched a
game-high and career-high 16 points against Findlay on Thursday
night. He was 6-of-10 from the field and made a career-best 4-of-8
three-pointers.
Hillsdale Chargers
The Hillsdale College men’s basketball team made history last week, clinching its first-ever GLIAC South Division championship with its Thursday win over Ohio Dominican, then wrapping up the outright GLIAC regular season championship by defeating Saginaw Valley State Saturday…This was the second GLIAC title for the program in its history and the first since the 1980-81 season…Hillsdale is guaranteed of hosting a first-round GLIAC Tournament game on Wed. Feb. 29, and if it wins that game, it will host the conference tournament semifinals and finals for the first time in school history…Head coach John Tharp has led the team to its first set of back-to-back 20-win seasons since 2000-01 and 2001-02…The Chargers last shared the South Division crown in 2000-01,sharing the title with Gannon University…Saturday’s win over SVSU was its first all season when it has won while shooting a worse percentage from the field…Junior Nick Washburn set a new career-high in scoring Saturday with 26 points…The Chargers haven’t lost to the Cardinals since December 20, 2005.
Lake Erie Storm
Lake Erie College (9-15, 4-13 GLIAC) split a pair of home contests as it took part in the GLIAC Pink Wave initative as part of “Taking Breast Cancer by Storm Weekend.” Lake Erie defeated Northern Michigan University, 74-62, and nearly pulled off the sweep before falling to Michigan Tech University, 61-58, Saturday. Against Northern Michigan, Redshirt freshman Jamil Dudley (Massillon, Ohio/Massillon) led four players in double figures with a career-high-tying 24 points, hitting a season-best four three-pointers. Sophomore Rich Austin (Cleveland, Ohio/Austin) scored 13 points while classmates Riley Thomas (Cardington, Ohio/Cardington Lincoln) and Tom Parker (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) each added 10 for the Storm. Against Michigan Tech, Lake Erie had a chance to tie or go ahead in the final 15 seconds but ultimately fell short. It was a balanced scoring effort with sophomore guard Nate Tait (South Euclid, Ohio/Brush/Alderson-Broaddus) leading the way with 11 points and four steals.
Lake Superior State Lakers
LSSU, which is 1-4 during its last five games, was knocked out of contention for a GLIAC Tournament berth with Saturday’s 73-58 loss at home to Northwood. Sophomore guard Derek Billing (Anna, Ohio) scored 15 points to lead the Lakers. It was his first sub-20 point performance in five games. Billing leads the Lakers in scoring at 16.8 points per game overall and is ranked fifth in the GLIAC in scoring at 17.8 ppg. Sophomore center Cameron Metz (Grand Rapids, Mich.) is ranked third in the GLIAC in field-goal percentage at .586. While averaging 8.3 ppg for the season, Metz contributed 13.0 ppg during the Lakers’ last two outings. Senior guard Kyle Hunt (Macomb, Mich.) is ranked sixth in the GLIAC in average assists per game at 3.8, while Billing is eighth at 3.6. Billing still leads the league in average three-point field goals per game at 3.0.
Michigan Tech Huskies
The Michigan Tech men’s basketball team earned a spot in the GLIAC Tournament after splitting games last week. The Huskies dropped a 73-59 decision at Ashland and defeated Lake Erie 61-58. The Huskies can still win the GLIAC North Division with wins next week against Saginaw Valley State and Northwood paired with a loss by Ferris State. Sophomore Austin Armga scored a game-high 18 points against LEC. Ali Haidar tallied a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds against Ashland. Tech will honor the three seniors on this years squad, Matt Gaedke, Mike Hojnacki and Brian Olley.
Northern Michigan Wildcats
The Northern
Michigan men’s basketball team is now 8-16 overall and 4-13
in the GLIAC…The Wildcats dropped two games last week in
Ohio to south division foes, falling 74-62 to Lake Erie (Feb. 16)
and 87-79 to Ashland (Feb. 18)…Senior guard DeAndre Taylor
led the ‘Cats over the week, averaging 16.5 points per game
and 7.5 rebounds per game…Taylor ranks 13th in the GLIAC
with 13.5 ppg…Senior center Jared Benson is now just six
points away from scoring his 1,000th career point…Freshman
guard Haki Stampley ranks 10th in the conference in scoring, with
an average of 14.6 ppg…NMU concludes the regular season this
week, hosting Northwood (Feb. 23) and Saginaw Valley State (Feb.
25)…Both games are part of the “GLIAC Pink Wave”
event.
Northwood Timberwolves
Northwood extended its winning streak to seven games with wins
last week over Saginaw Valley State (84-54) and Lake Superior State
(73-58) … the Timberwolves are now 17-7 overall, 12-5 in the
GLIAC … NU is now tied for the lead in the GLIAC North
Division with Ferris State … Northwood’s seven-game
winning streak matches the longest in school history, which had
also been done in 1964-65, 1965-66 and 1998-99 … the
Timberwolves’ offense was very efficient for the week,
shooting 54.9 percent from the floor (56-102) and 51.2 percent from
the foul line (21-41) … four Timberwolves averaged in double
figures for the week, led by Bobby Lewis (Saginaw, Mich./Mott CC)
at 17.5 points per game … Cameron Joyce (Akron, Ohio/St.
Vincent St. Mary’s) averaged 10.5 points and 7.0 assists per
game … Joyce shot 72.7 percent from the floor (8-11), 57.1
percent from 3-point range (4-7) and had just three turnovers for
the week … during Northwood’s seven-game winning
streak, Joyce has 42 assists and seven turnovers
Ohio Dominican Panthers
Ohio Dominican’s men’s basketball team trailed GLIAC front-runner Hillsdale by just a point at halftime, but ultimately fell 70-59 at Hillsdale in its lone contest last week…The Chargers started the second half on a 16-5 run to earn some separation and clinch the South Division title…Senior forward Jake Mochoskay (Mansfield, Ohio) scored in double figures for a third-straight game with a season-high 18 points and senior center Zak Kapron (Malvern, Ohio) chipped in with 12 points in 18 minutes…ODU had a 37-28 edge in rebounding but committed 19 turnovers, its most since Dec. 15 at Wayne State, and shot below 40 percent for the fourth time in the last five games…Senior forward Aaron Gibbs (Oberlin, Ohio) is six points away from 1,000 for his career.
Saginaw Valley State Cardinals
The Saginaw Valley State University men’s basketball dropped both contests last week with losses at Northwood on Wednesday (Feb. 15), 84-54, and their home finale against Hillsdale on Saturday (Feb. 18), 62-50. The Cardinals are now 10-14 overall and 6-11 in the conference. Eli Redman stretched his school record for consecutive free throws made to 35 against Northwood before missing his next attempt. Chris Webb leads SVSU in scoring at 14.1 points per game and currently ranks 12th in the conference. SVSU is fourth in the conference in free throw percentage at 74.4% and ranked in the top 40 nationally. Brett Beland leads the GLIAC and is second nationally in free throw percentage going 63-for-68 (92.6). Redman is ninth in the conference from the charity stripe at 81.8%. Greg Foster leads the team and ranks third in the GLIAC in assists (4.5), eighth in steals (1.5) and is 16th in rebounds (5.9) per game. Saginaw Valley will finish the season on the road as they travel to the Upper Peninsula to battle Michigan Tech on Thursday (Feb. 23) and Northern Michigan on Saturday (Feb. 25).
Tiffin Dragons
The Dragons went 2-0 on the week…On Feb. 16, Tiffin beat Salem International 89-80 behind 28 points from Joe Graessle … Travis Spahr had 14 points and 10 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season … Karl Finley and Joe Graessle combined for 50 points as TU beat Malone 77-69 on Feb. 18 … Finley had 26 and Graessle scored 24 with four triples for each of them … The Dragons have won four in a row and are 8-3 over the last 11 games … Career, Joe Graessle is fifth with 160 3-pointers made and fifth with 427 3-point attempts … Graessle is closing in on the season 3-point mark, making 85 with the record being 89 by Ricky Spencer (1992-93) … As a team, the Dragons have blocked a school record 145 shots and are second in 3-pointers made and attempted (199, 561).
Wayne State Warriors
Wayne State will conclude the regular-season with a chance to record the second-most conference wins in school history (14) tying the mark set in 1985-86 and equaled in 1993-94 and 2010-11. The 1998-99 Tartar team holds the WSU record with 16 league victories. Senior center Ike Udanoh (Detroit, Mich./Warren Woods Tower) has scored in double figures in all 13 games of the 2012 calendar year and 20 times this season, after tallying 20 points in both wins last week. The Warriors made 10 triples in each game last week, the most against a GLIAC team this season. The 18 rebounds by Grand Valley was the lowest by a WSU opponent since Findlay had 18 boards on Feb. 2, 2006. Udanoh has 974 collegiate points including the 35 he scored while playing at Long Island University. There are only two players in WSU history with more made field goals than Udanoh with higher field goal percentage (Otis Evans - .677, 472-697; and Al Ament - .563, 392-696).