Best Win of the Week

#21 Pikeville (KY) defeats #3 Cumberlands (KY), 86-80.

Both teams came in riding massive win streaks. Pikeville though, handed Cumberlands their first loss of the season on the way to extending their win streak to 12 games. It’s the 3rd longest win streak in the NAIA. The win puts the Bears in a great spot to possibly host an opening round NAIA game if they can continue playing great basketball! Bradley Bunch led the way with 21pts in the win.

Upset of the Week

#19 Montana Tech defeats D1 Montana

Best win/Best Upset, you make your pick. At end of the day, Montana Tech led D1 Montana for 36 minutes on their way to the win. It’s the 2nd time they have beaten Montana in the past four meetings. A NAIA beats a D1 every season, sometimes multiple, but it is still always fun!

Best Game of the Week

#10 Indiana Wesleyan defeats #4 Arizona Christian, 73-69

Everything you’d want in a Top 25 showdown! This game was fantastic. Especially down the stretch. Ultimately, the game came down to the final possession where Caedmon Bontrager (see below) came up with a monster block and jam to seal the win for IWU!

Best Offense of the Week

LSU Shreveport

Shreveport is rolling as they sit 10-3 and moved into the Top 25. This past week, in 3 wins, the Pilots averaged 103ppg, including scoring 111 in their win over Southwest. They averaged 100ppg for the entire month of December.

MVP of the Week

Micah Clark, Nelson (TX)

Clark is having a big year and that continued this past week as he put up 37pts, 7rebs and 3assts in Nelson’s win over Florida Memorial. It’s his 3rd time scoring 30+ this season. Clark has also scored 20+ pts in four of his past five games.

Defensive MVP of the Week

Omarion Smith, Dalton State (GA)

For Dalon State, the return of the SSAC DPOY was certainly a welcomed one! Omarion had to sit out 1st semester, but he returned to the Roadrunner lineup like he never left as he put up another big defensive effort finishing with 16pts, 10rebs and 4 blocks in his first game back!

Coach of the Week

Frank Woodford, BenU – Mesa

Two more big wins for the Redhawks, including another Top 25 win. Coach Woodford, whose team was picked to finish 6th out of 9 teams in the GSAC, has his squad sitting at 15-0 with two Top 25 wins!

Defense of the Week

Benedictine – Mesa

BenU – Mesa remained unbeaten this week behind a pair of terrific defensive efforts. The Redhawks held Trinity Christian to just 58pts on 35.6% shooting and 29% from 3. They followed that up by holding #15 Carroll to 35.8% from the field and 29.6% from 3.

Pippen of the Week

D’aAmare Hood, Oakland City (IN)

This award is generally a mix of a player who steps up big, who isn’t the “top” player on a team and sometimes it’s just the award that resembles the player who stuffed the stat sheet. D’Amare did both this week for the Mighty Oaks as they knocked off Saint Ambrose (IA). Hood, with two of the Mighty Oaks best players out, stepped up in a big way as he dropped 34pts, 12rebs and 3assts and 5stls to propel Oakland City to the win.

Onions of the Week

Caedmon Bontrager

Not the most conventional “Onions” buzzer beater we normal highlight, but I wanted to highlight this one anyway. Caedmon Bontrager with a game saving block and then put the exclamation point down with the dunk to seal the win for #10 Indiana Wesleyan vs #4 Arizona Christian! Absolute great play to seal the win for the Wildcats!

Sniper of the Week

Austin Cripe, Bethel (IN)

The best shooter in the Crossroads League had himself another big outing as Austin went 6-9 from 3. He leads the CL in 3pt % at 50.7%!

Stock Riser of the Week

Huntington Foresters

Rightfully so, the Foresters led the entire NAIA in nominations this week. While they deserved several others, this is one that can sum up their entire week. Coach Jared Jauch, who could have easily been named Coach of the Week, has Huntington sitting at 10-3 overall after the Foresters picked up two more Top 25 wins this week over #4 Arizona Christian and #15 Hope International (CA). They have three straight wins over Top 25 opponents after knocking off #10 IWU last week. A big part of their success, as you will see below, is the play of Sophomore Myles Good. Miles dropped 36 in the Foresters win over HIU. He also had 17pts in the ACU win.

Rodman of the Week

Raphael Gay, Central Methodist (MO)

Raphael has been a monster for the Eagles. This past week he had a 15 rebound game vs Hesston. It was his 3rd straight double digit rebound game, his sixth in the past 7 games. Gay finished with a 33pt, 15reb double-double to help CMU to the win. He now leads the Heart of America in every rebounding statistic including Rebounds per Game (8.8). He also leads the Heart in FG% (65.2) and is 5th in Blocks (16).

Sophomore of the Week

Miles Good, Huntington (IN)

Miles has been sensational for Huntington and that continued this week in two big Top 25 wins.

vs #4 ACU | 17pts, 4assts

vs #15 HIU | 36pts, 2rebs, 2assts, 2stls

Freshman of the Week

Brayden Miner, The Master’s (CA)

Brayden just started his season four games ago. It’s already been a memorable four games as he hit a game winning 3 vs OUAZ in his first game. This past week, he scored 31pts on 7-14 from 3. He added 4 rebounds, dished out 2 assts and had 1 block and 1 steal. The Mustangs are undefeated since Miner was cleared to play!

Dunk of the Week

Cole Henry, IU East

No explanation needed, this was just plain filthy!