MTU's Molesworth and WSU's Smothers Chosen As GLIAC Men's Basketball North and South Division "Players of the Week," Respectively

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BAY CITY, Mich. - Michigan Technological University junior guard Tyler Molesworth (Mesa, Ariz./Mountain View) and Wayne State University junior guard Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich./Northern) have been chosen as the GLIAC Men's Basketball North and South Division "Players of the Week," respectively, as announced by the league office.

GLIAC North Division Player of the Week:
Tyler Molesworth - Michigan Tech
6-4, Junior, Guard
Mesa, Ariz./Mountain View

Michigan Tech’s Tyler Molesworth has averaged 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in his first three games as a Husky. The junior guard posted 17 points in Tech’s season-opener vs. Minnesota Duluth. He then registered 20 points last Saturday (Nov. 21) against No. 10 St. Cloud State (Minn.) after making 4-of-6 3-pointers. Molesworth is shooting 52.9 percent from three-point range so far in 2009-10.

North Division Weekly Honor Roll: Justin Keenan - FS, Justin Ringler - GV, Micah Hudson - LS, Marc Renelique - NM, Avery Stephenson - SV.

2009 North Division "Players of the Week": (11/23) Tyler Molesworth - MT

GLIAC South Division Player of the Week:
Bryan Smothers - Wayne State
5-9, Junior, Guard
Pontiac, Mich./Northern

Junior guard Bryan Smothers averaged 18 points, four assists, 2.5 rebounds and one steal percontest as the Warriors went 1-1 last week. Smothers led Wayne State to an upset of the top-ranked team in Division II, Bellarmine University (Ky.), on Saturday by scoring a career-high 26 points in the 84-74 double overtime win. He tallied 16 points in the second half, helping WSU erase a 17-point deficit. Smothers shot 62.5 percent from the floor last week, including going 4-8 on the arc.

South Division Weekly Honor Roll: Bylynn Hatcher - AU, Nathan Hyde - UF, Brent Eaton - HC, Lionel Sullivav - NU.

2009 South Division "Players of the Week": (11/23) Bryan Smothers - WSU

Ashland Eagles (1-1, 0-0 GLIAC)

First-year head coach John Ellenwood got his first win on the AU bench when the Eagles came from behind to beat Ohio Dominican, 66-61. The Eagles trailed 15-0 to start the game and were behind, 61-55 with 1:36 left in regulation. Over the last 1:38, Ashland outscored ODU, 11-0… After two games the Eagles are shooting 13.9 percent (5-of-36) from three-point range and 35 percent (43-of-123) from the floor…in the win over ODU, junior forward Blake Saunders (Hinsdale, IL/Sonoma State) came off the bench to score a team-leading 13 points …Ashland had 22 offensive rebounds against ODU. That’s the most rebounds the Eagles have collected off the offensive glass since they had 23 at Gannon in a 96-95 overtime loss on Jan. 4, 2007…senior forward Bylynn Hatcher (Alliance, OH/Grand Rapids C.C.) ended the first week of play averaging 10.0 ppg., and 5.0 rpg… freshman center Evan Yates (Cincinnati, OH/Walnut Hill) led AU with 13 points and seven rebounds in a loss at Mt. Vernon Nazarene. Against ODU, 6-4 sophomore Taylor Hobbs (Worthington, OH/Tusculum) came off the bench to produce 11 points and three rebounds.

Ferris State Bulldogs (0-3, 0-0 GLIAC)

FSU suffered three tough non-league road losses to open the 2009-10 campaign last week, including a 82-69 setback Monday (Nov. 16) at NCAA Division I Central Michigan … Junior forward/center Justin Keenan, a Division II Preseason All-America selection, paced the Bulldogs by averaging 17.3 points per game on the week ... Keenan scored 15 points while becoming the 26th player in school history to surpass the 1,000 career points mark in the season opener at regional foe Lewis last Sunday (Nov. 15) where he also grabbed his 400th career rebound ... Senior guard Jon Yeazel, who transferred from CMU and redshirted for FSU last season, added 15.7 points per game and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per contest ... Junior guard Darien Gay scored a game-high 26 points at CMU and was eight-of-nine beyond the three-point line in the outing … Monday’s meeting at Central Michigan represented the first regular-season matchup between the two teams since Dec. 3, 1990. It was also only the third official contest between the two schools since 1976.

Findlay Oilers (2-1, 0-0 GLIAC)

The Oilers have begun the season with a 2-1 record ...They lost 71-63 to Indianapolis on Saturday to snap a 38-game winning streak...Senior guard Marcus Parker currently ranks 35th all-time at Findlay in career scoring with 1,064 points...He is chasing Tyson McGlaughlin, who scored 1,134 points from 2002-05, for 34th place...The Oilers have the best winning percentage in NCAA Division II competition during this decade...Since 2000, the Oilers have won 240 games and lost only 47 for a percentage of .836...The Oilers have currently won 76 straight regular season games in Croy Gymnasium with their last home loss coming against Gannon University on February 12, 2004 in 70-68 fashion... Counting tournament play at home, the Oilers have won 38 straight games in Croy Gymnasium.

Grand Valley State Lakers (1-1, 0-0 GLIAC)

The Lakers opened their season with a close win over visiting Northern Kentucky and a loss to Cornerstone. GVSU heads on the road for its first away game of the year on Tuesday (Nov. 24) at Saint Joseph’s (Ind.) …juniors Justin Ringler (Reed City, Mich.) and Toreau Brown (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) combined to score 42 of the Lakers’ 57 points in the win over NKU. Ringler notched a game-high 24 points and did not commit a turnover in 37 minutes, while Brown was one rebound shy of a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds. The duo combined to shoot 16-of-17 at the free throw line (Ringler 8-8, Brown 8-9), including a perfect 6-for-6 in the final 21 seconds to preserve the victory.

Hillsdale Chargers (0-3, 0-0 GLIAC)

The 2009-10 Hillsdale College men’s basketball team has had a very challenging start to the season, playing two ranked teams and one Division I team, all on the road…The Chargers are 0-3, though two of those losses came by eight points each…Sophomore swingman Brent Eaton, who transferred to Hillsdale from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, made six 3-point field goals Saturday at UW-Milwaukee, and is averaging a team-best 13 points per game through three games…Hillsdale graduated five of its top eight players off last year’s team…Freshman Nick Washburn has started each of his first three collegiate games, and had five blocked shots vs. top-ranked Bellarmine on Nov. 16…The Chargers play just once between Tuesday and Dec. 3, when it concludes their non-league schedule with a game at Lewis University.

Lake Superior State Lakers (1-3, 0-0 GLIAC)

Senior guard Scott Perkins (Perrysburg, Ohio) averaged 16.7 points per game and made the all-tournament team at the Disney DII Tip-Off Classic in Kissimmee, Fla., in early November. He also scored 18 points during Saturday’s 70-63 loss to Aquinas. Perkins is averaging 17 points and 3.3 rebounds per game…Guards are scoring the majority of points for LSSU. In addition to Perkins, senior point guard Garrett Konuszewski (Flushing, Mich.) is averaging 12.5 ppg, followed by junior guard Micah Hudson (Jackson, Mich.) and sophomore guard Kyle Hunt (Macomb, Mich.) at 11.3 ppg…Despite their scoring output, LSSU is shooting only 30.4 percent from three-point range. Last season, the Lakers led the nation in three-point field-goal percentage at .431…LSSU finished 1-2 at the Disney Tournament, including a 59-57 victory over No. 25 Philadelphia and a 96-71 loss to No. 3 Southwest Baptist.

Michigan Tech. Huskies (1-2, 0-0 GLIAC)

Tech has opened its season 1-2 with all three games in Minnesota. The Huskies’ win came vs. Minnesota State Moorhead Friday (Nov. 20) … Tech is currently led in scoring by two first-year players in junior transfer Tyler Molesworth (Mesa, Ariz./Mesa Community College) and true freshman Ali Haidar (Windsor, Ont./Forster) at 16.7 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. Molesworth tallied a 20-point game vs. St. Cloud State last Saturday (Nov. 21). Haidar recored his first career double-double in the same game … Michigan Tech will wrap up its non-conference schedule for the season with two games in Evansville, Ind., this weekend. The Huskies face Southern Indiana Friday (Nov. 27) and No. 1-ranked Bellarmine Saturday (Nov. 28).

Northern Michigan Wildcats (0-1, 0-0 GLIAC)

Northern Michigan, after playing two NCAA Division I teams, Michigan in an exhibition, and UW-Green Bay in a real game, comes home to face Northland College Tuesday and Finlandia next Monday…Marc Renelique led the ‘Cats against the Phoenix with a game-high 23 points…Raymont McElroy added 16 points in the loss. Renelique and McElroy led the ‘Cats on the boards with eight each…McElroy also had five assists…Northern shot 51 percent from the floor for the game against UW-Green Bay (26-51) which included 9-17 from the three-point line (52.9 percent).

Northwood Timberwolves (2-0, 0-0 GLIAC)

Northwood opened its 2009-10 season with a pair of easy home victories, defeating Marygrove 92-52 and UM-Dearborn 97-55 … the Timberwolves connected on 51.1 percent of their shot attempts for the week, making 70-137 … NU also shot 39.0 percent from 3-point range and 82.5 percent from the foul line … Northwood had a pair of double-doubles for the weekend – Lionel Sullivan (Detroit, Mich./ DePorres) had 23 points and 15 rebounds against Marygrove while Chris Johnson (Belleville, Mich.) had 22 points and 13 rebounds against UM-Dearborn … a pair of NU freshman also got their careers off to strong starts, as Andrew VanDierenDonck (Wyandotte, Mich./Roosevelt) averaged 14.5 points per game while Booker Stoudmire (Belleville, Mich.) averaged 10.0 … VanDierenDonck connected on 11 of 15 from the floor overall (73.3 percent) and 5-6 from 3-point range (83.3 percent) … five Timberwolves averaged in double figures for the week – Sullivan, Johnson, VanDierenDonck, Dorian Pierce (Jackson, Mich./SVSU) and Stoudmire … NU returns to action December 3 at Northern Michigan.

Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (2-0, 0-0 GLIAC)

The Cardinals are off to a 2-0 start, for first time since 2007-08, when they started 4-0 on the season. SVSU is averaging 72.5 points per game, while allowing opponents 54.5 points per game, while holding them to a .354 shooting percentage. 14 different Cardinals have seen game action this season, and all but two have scored a point in a game. Keithan Jackson became the first Cardinal since Mike Zuiderveen to pull down at least 18 rebounds in a contest when he accomplished the feat against Rochester College on Nov. 18. SVSU is outscoring opponents 72-34 in the paint this season. The Cardinals will only have one game during the holiday week when they host Urbana on Monday night at the Ryder Center.

Tiffin Dragons (0-1, 0-0-0 GLIAC)

The Tiffin University Dragons dropped their opening game of the 2009-10 season, falling to West Liberty (W.Va.) 113-72…TU shot 52 percent from the floor in the game… Merlynd Ameti and Keenan Barlow led the Dragons with 14 points apiece, while DeAngelo Jordan also finished in double figures with 10 points. Brian Scott tallied nine points while Mike Hammonds added eight points.

Wayne State Warrior (1-1, 0-0 GLIAC)

Wayne State’s win on Saturday over top-ranked Bellarmine was the biggest win since a Feb. 14, 2005, 79-72 victory over Findlay when the Oilers were ranked second nationally … junior guard Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich./Northern) scored a career-high 26 points in the win over the Knights and tied a career-best with 10 free throws made … senior guard Bryan Wright (Warren, Ohio/Harding) tallied a career-high with 29 points against BU … junior center Ike Udanoh (Detroit, Mich./Warren Woods Tower) had a career-high three blocks in the BU contest along with a career-best three steals, while playing 44 minutes… Udanoh had game-high totals of 20 points and eight rebounds in the contest vs. the Marauders … WSU made 83.3 percent (20-of-24) of its foul shots in each game last week which was the best in a game (with at least 16 attempts) since making 18-of-21 on Dec. 1, 2007, at Tiffin … WSU has one game remaining until the start of conference play on Dec. 3, a home match vs. Marygrove this Tuesday...WSU is 9-0 in home openers under Greer.