INDIANAPOLIS -- Green Bay junior center Alec Brown (Winona, Minn./Winona) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, while Youngstown State junior forward Kamren Belin [Atlanta, Ga./Walton (Cowley College)] has been named the Newcomer of the Week, for the week of Jan. 21-27. The award is the first of both players’ careers.
Green Bay (11-10, 5-3 Horizon) split its two road games last week, opening the week with a 73-61 loss at Valparaiso on Wednesday; the Phoenix capped the week with a 74-54 win at in-state rival Milwaukee, the first road win of the year for Green Bay. At 5-3, the Phoenix sit in a three-way tie for second place in the Horizon League.
Youngstown State (12-8, 4-3 Horizon) sits one-half game out of second after winning its lone game of the week, a 73-59 victory over northeast Ohio rival Cleveland State.
At Valparaiso, Brown notched a team-high 18 points, collecting six rebounds in the loss. The total left the junior 19 points shy of 1,000 for his career, which he achieved before a national television audience on ESPNU on Friday night. Brown’s 23 points in the win were a career high as the center became the 25th player in Green Bay history and the 144th player in the Horizon League to reach 1,000 career points.
In conference play, Brown is averaging 14.1 points per game to go along with 6.4 rebounds per contest, both top 10 marks in the Horizon League. With 36 blocks on the year, Brown now has 192 in his career, ranking seventh in Horizon League history; he is eight from becoming just the fourth player in League history with 200.
Belin had a career effort against Cleveland State, leading all scorers with 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting. The junior knocked down a career-high four three-pointers, adding five rebounds and three steals to his stat line. It was the second time in three games Belin had a career-best points total, coming on the heels of a 21-point outing at Milwaukee.
The newcomer is averaging 12.1 ppg in conference play, an increase of nearly five points from his non-conference average of 7.3 ppg.
Green Bay will continue its road trip, heading to Chicago for games this weekend. The Phoenix will open the set at UIC (13-8, 4-4 Horizon) on Thursday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m. EST, with live coverage on the Horizon League Network. Green Bay’s game at Loyola (12-8, 2-5 Horizon) will be featured as the HLN Game of the Week on Saturday, Feb. 2, at 2 p.m. EST. The game will be carried on ESPN Full Court, ESPN3, HLN and syndicated throughout the Midwest.
Youngstown State will host Horizon League-leading Valparaiso (16-5, 6-1 Horizon) on Wednesday, Jan. 30, at 8:05 p.m. EST, live on ESPN3. The Penguins will wrap the week on ESPNU on Friday night, traveling to Detroit (13-8, 5-3 Horizon) for a 9 p.m. EST tip-off.
Top Performers for the Week:
Doug Anderson, Detroit (Sr., F) - Led the Titans with 20 points against Wright State before an 11-point effort in Detroit’s win over Loyola. Of Anderson’s 109 field goals, 54 are dunks.
Christian Thomas, Loyola (So., F) - Posted a career-high 21 points to key Loyola’s comeback win at Cleveland State before notching his fourth double-double of the year versus Detroit.
Gary Talton, UIC (Sr., G) - Led UIC to two wins last week, scoring 14 points versus Milwaukee before an 18-point effort at Wright State helped the Flames hold off the Raiders.
Kendall Griffin, Wright State (So., G) - With a career-high 15 points, Griffin keyed Wright State’s 64-62 victory at Detroit.
Damian Eargle, Youngstown State (Sr., C) - Scored a game-high 18 points versus Wright State, and with 32 on the week, sits 64 from 1,000 in his YSU career.
Top Newcomers for the Week:
Bryn Forbes, Cleveland State (Fr., G) - Scored a career-high 22 points versus Loyola, backing up the outing with 19 points against Youngstown State.
Juwan Howard, Jr., Detroit (So., F) - Howard, Jr. led Detroit’s comeback at Loyola with 15 points; the sophomore has scored in double figures 12 times this season.
Jordan Fouse, Green Bay (Fr., F) - Continued to fill the stat line, finishing with eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks at Milwaukee.
Cully Payne, Loyola (Jr., G) - Hit a pair of key three-pointers, finishing with eight points in Loyola’s come-from-behind win at Cleveland State.
Josh Crittle, UIC (Sr., C) - Added 11 points for UIC in its 55-49 win at Wright State, helping the Flames snap a 30-game road conference losing streak.
Men’s Basketball Player of the Week:
Nov. 12: Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Nov. 19: Kendrick Perry, Youngstown State
Nov. 26: Ryan Broekhoff, Valparaiso
Gary Talton, UIC
Dec. 3: Cole Darling, Wright State
Dec. 10: Ryan Broekhoff, Valparaiso
Dec. 17: Daniel Barnes, UIC
Dec. 24: Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Dec. 31: Ray McCallum, Detroit
Jan. 7: Kendrick Perry, Youngstown State
Jan. 14: Ryan Broekhoff, Valparaiso
Jan. 21: Kevin Van Wijk, Valparaiso
Jan. 28: Alec Brown, Green Bay
Men’s Basketball Newcomer of the Week:
Nov. 12: Jordan Aaron, Milwaukee
Bobby Hain, Youngstown State
Nov. 19: JT Yoho, Wright State
Nov. 26: Josh Crittle, UIC
Dec. 3: Bryn Forbes, Cleveland State
Dec. 10: Juwan Howard, Jr., Detroit
Dec. 17: Devon Turk, Loyola
LaVonte Dority, Valparaiso
Dec. 24: Jerran Young, Wright State
Dec. 31: Cully Payne, Loyola
Jan. 7: Josh Crittle, UIC
Jan. 14: Bryn Forbes, Cleveland State
Jan. 21: Jordan Fouse, Green Bay
Jan. 28: Kamren Belin, Youngstown State
