A lot of great performances led to a lot of great nominees. In particularly, we had a lot of Freshman who had really good weeks. You will see several scattered into different categories this week. We are also seeing a lot of great team performances as we get into league play for much of the country. This week we see a lot of Holiday Classics! Feast week in the NAIA is usually a lot of fun!
Best Win of The Week
Concordia (NE) beats #3 Northwestern (IA), 78-73
After losing a big chunk of their scoring and production last season. CUNE came into the season with some questions. After two losses in their first three games, the Bulldogs look to be finding their stride and after a battle with D1 Omaha where they hung around until late, they finished the week with a win over #3 Northwestern to move to 2-0 in GPAC play. Brooks Kissinger continues to impress as he averaged 23pts, 7rebs this past week. Sophomore, Dane Jacobsen also had a nice week as he averaged 19pts, 6rebs and 5assts on the week! (Game Recap)
Upset of the Week
Taylor (IN) over #1 Indiana Wesleyan
Taylor used a big 2nd half to take down #1 Indiana Wesleyan, 80-77! Izaiah Day led the way with 17pts and 8rebs, including a big late three that gave Taylor breathing room late. (Game Recap)
Best Game of the Week
#16 Georgetown vs #14 LSU Alexandria
A neutral court Top 25 battle that didn’t disappoint! Every time Georgetown built up a lead, LSUA would come storming back. The Generals even came out of halftime on a 10-0 run to take the lead, before GTown opened it back up in 2nd half. Once again, LSUA came storming back, down 7, with 90 seconds left to play. The Generals would force OT! However, it was just too much Rashad Bishop and the Tigers in OT as Georgetown won, 94-87. (Game Recap)
Offense of the Week
Southeastern (FL)
108pts vs Coastal Georgia
98pts vs St. Thomas (FL)
The Fire moved to 3-0 in The Sun Conference with two big wins inside The Furnace. The Fire averaged 103pts ppg this week while shooting 63% from the field and averaged 19.5apg.
MVP of the Week
Ian Raasch, Grace (IN)
26ppg, 8rpg shot 76% from field
Ian is coming off a week where he averaged 26ppg and 8rpg in two Crossroads wins for Grace. The National Player of the Year candidate also set a new school record vs Taylor going 13-13 from the field including 5-5 from the 3pt line.
Defensive MVP of the Week
Camerin James, Keiser (FL)
Cam had two double-doubles this week while averaging 21ppg, 10.5rpg, 2spg and 1.5bpg.
Coach of the Week
Donnie Bostwick, OKWU
OKWU, fresh off of a National Runner-Up season, lost a lot of great pieces, including two All-Americans. They start two sophomores and three Freshman. Yet Coach Donnie Bostwick and the Eagles haven’t skipped a beat as they moved to 6-1 on the season with two big wins, including a huge road KCAC win over #19 Friends (KS). A win that was #500 for Coach Bostwick in his career!
Defense of the Week
Montana Tech
Montana Tech is playing great basketball on both sides of the ball. Hayden Diekhans is a true NPOY candidate. This week the Orediggers opened up Frontier Conference play, on the road, and held Mayville state to just 63pts (35pts below their avg.) Then Tech followed that up by holding Valley City State to 61ppg (28pts below their avg).
Onions of the Week
Trayten Woods, WVU Tech
The Freshman didn’t get a clean catch and shoot off the drive and kick, but Trayten, after the head fake, drained the 3 at the buzzer to give WVU Tech the win!
Pippen of the Week
Easton Neuendorf, Dakota Wesleyan
Easton acts like MJ, as every photo I have seen of the Freshman, he has his tongue out! He was really good for DWU this week, doing a little bit of everything including a 19pt, 12 assist game in DWU’s win vs Midland.
Sniper of the Week
Evan Angstmann, Defiance
Hit 11-3’s in OT win
A school record ELEVEN 3’s for the Sophomore!! Evan torched the nets in Defiance’s OT win vs Washington Adventist. Evan finished with 39pts as he went 11-16 from 3pt line. Evan has helped the Yellowjackets to a 5-1 record to start the season.
Stock Riser of the Week
Missouri Baptist
At 7-0, it was super hard to keep MoBap out of our Top 25 this week. They did have a Top 25 win over Columbia (MO) two weeks ago and followed that up with three straight wins in their new league, the Heart of America. This past week they knocked off both Culver-Stockton and Grand View. The Spartans are playing great basketball!
Rodman of the Week
Raymond Reece, Philander Smith
31 total rebounds (11 Offensive) this week.
Raymond Reece is no stranger to the Rodman award, but “board man gets paid” and Raymond continues to put up big rebounding numbers. He leads the NAIA in rebounds per game (15.3). This past week Reece had 9pts, 15rebs (4 offense), 2assts, 2stls, 1blk in win vs Virgin Islands. Then had 22pts, 16rebs (7 offensive), 3stls, 1blk in the Panthers win vs Tougaloo.
Sophomore of the Week
Derek Fairley, Lourdes
25.5ppg, 4.5rpg, 3apg
Derek put up 19pts, 4rebs, 5assts in Lourdes loss to Madonna, then followed it up with 32pts, 5rebs and an asst in their win vs Cornerstone. He is a big part of why Lourdes sits at 5-1 on the season!
Freshman of the Week
Cam Jones, Baker
Avg. 23ppg, 11.5rpg this week
Cam had his best week of his Freshman campaign as he scored 25pts, 15reb outing vs Park and then followed it up with 21pt, 8reb outing vs Missouri Valley.
Dunk of the Week
Hayden Brittingham, LSUS
A ton of great dunks, once again, this week, however, the in-game windmill, while the defender jumps with you, is just plain filthy and gets the nod this week! You can watch the video below.
