FSU's Keenan and UF's Parker Chosen As GLIAC Men's Basketball North and South Division "Players of the Week," Respectively

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BAY CITY, Mich. - Ferris State University junior forward Justin Keenan (Grand Rapids, Mich./Ottawa Hills) and University of Findlay senior guard Marcus Parker (Canton, Ohio/McKinley) 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:
Justin Keenan - Ferris State
6-7, Junior, Forward/Center
Grand Rapids, Mich./Ottawa Hills

Junior Justin Keenan averaged 18 points and nine rebounds in two games this past week as the Bulldogs increased their winning streak to four-straight. Keenan netted a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds during FSU’s thrilling 54-52 conference triumph at Wayne State on Thursday. He then tallied 17 points with six rebounds and three assists in the Bulldogs’ 86-73 victory at Northwood on Saturday. Keenan shot over 50% from the floor in both games and converted 16-of-20 free throws in the two contests.

North Division Weekly Honor Roll: Alvin Storrs - GV, Scott Perkins - LS, Matt Gaedke - MT, Raymont McElroy - NM, Avery Stephenson - SV.

2009 North Division "Players of the Week": (11/23) Tyler Molesworth - MT; (11/30) Keithan Jackson - SV; (12/7) Scott Perkins - LS; (12/14) Avery Stephenson - SV; (12/21) Justin Ringler - GV; (1/4) R. McElroy - NM; (1/11) A. Haider - MT; (1/19) J. Keenan - FS; (1/25) J. Keenan - FS.

GLIAC South Division Player of the Week:
Marcus Parker - Findlay
5-9, Senior, Guard
Canton, Ohio/McKinley

Senior guard Marcus Parker led the Oilers to a pair of wins at home last week by averaging 19.5 points, 6.0 assists, 3.5 steals and 2.5 rebounds per game. In the Oilers’ 91-62 win over Tiffin, Parker tied his career-high with 22 points and five three pointers while adding a season-high seven assists and five steals. In UF’s 84-56 win over Ashland on Saturday, he tallied 17 points and five assists. On the season, Parker is averaging 14.5 points, 2.7 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.

South Division Weekly Honor Roll: Evan Yates - AU, Brent Eaton - HC, Dorian Pierce - NU, DeAngelo Jordan - TU.

2009 South Division "Players of the Week": (11/23) B. Smothers - WS; (11/30) K. Richardson - AU; (12/7) D. Pierce - NU; (12/14) N. Hyde - UF; (12/21) L. Sullivan - NU; (1/4) K. Richardson - AU; (1/11) T. Sparks - UF; (1/19) J. Oden - WS; (1/25) M. Parker - UF.

Ashland Eagles (8-9, 4-8 GLIAC)

AU plays four of its next six games at home and that’s good news for a team that is trying to break a four-game losing streak and is 7-2 at home… AU has not reached 70 points in a game in any of its last five contests. The Eagles are 1-4 in that stretch…freshman point guard Micah Fraction (Upper Marlboro, MD/Montrose Christian) scored a season-high 16 points at Hillsdale. He went 5-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-6 at the free throw line… over the last three games, junior forward Kale Richardson (Carroll, OH/Bloom-Carroll), has pulled down 7.3 rpg. Entering this season, Richardson averaged 7.1 rpg. The junior is currently averaging a team-high 6.5 rpg…during their five-game winning streak earlier this season, the Eagles were able to consistently get to the free throw line. Last week when AU averaged 17.5 free throws per game in losses to Hillsdale and Findlay. The good news is that the Eagles went 28-of-35 (80 percent) when they got to the line…AU hosts Northwood and Wayne State this week. This is the first time the Eagles have played the Timberwolves and Warriors this season.

Ferris State Bulldogs (10-7, 8-4 GLIAC)

FSU increased its winning-streak to four consecutive games on the road with a pair of conference victories this past week... Junior guard Darien Gay connected on a short jumper with less than 15 seconds to play and the Bulldogs came up with a defensive stop on the game’s final possession to defeat Wayne State 54-52 on Thursday (Jan. 21) in Detroit. The win was FSU’s first over the Warriors in the Motor City since the 1994-95 season as Ferris snapped a seven-game series’ losing streak away from home. The Bulldogs never led in the contest until Gay’s game-winning jumper... Saturday’s (Jan. 23) conference road win at Northwood represented the Bulldogs’ 10th win of the season and marked the eighth consecutive year in which the Bulldogs have won 10 or more games under eighth-year head coach Bill Sall. Prior to Sall’s arrival, the Bulldogs had won 10 games or more only twice in the seven previous seasons... FSU has now defeated Northwood seven times in the last 11 matchups following Saturday’s triumph.

Findlay Oilers (14-3, 10-2 GLIAC)

The Oilers won a pair of home games last week, winning 91-62 over Tiffin on Thursday and 84-56 against Ashland on Saturday…The Oilers have now won 85 straight regular season games in Croy Gymnasium and 47 straight games at home counting postseason contests …In the win over Tiffin, senior guard Marcus Parker tied his career-high with 22 points and five three pointers… He also chipped in a season-high seven assists and five steals…Junior guard Nathan Hyde added 17 points…In the win over Ashland, Hyde scored a career-high 26 points while Parker had 17…For the week, Parker averaged 19.5 points, 6.0 assists, 3.5 steals and 2.5 rebounds per game… For his career, he ranks 24th all-time at Findlay in scoring with 1,269 points…Hyde averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.0 assists per game during the week…The Oilers have the best winning percentage in D-II competition during this decade, having won 252 games and lost only 49 (.837)…In the past seven years, the Oilers are a staggering 115-2 at home for a winning percentage of .983.

Grand Valley State Lakers (14-3, 10-2 GLIAC)

The Lakers pushed their winning streak to 10 straight games, while going 4-0 on their four-game road trip. GVSU has won six straight road games and their last loss game on Dec. 12 at Findlay…The GV defense has allowed just 59.4 points per game, tops in the GLIAC. GVSU has not given up more than 68 points in its last 10 games and during its four-game road trip, the Lakers did not allow more than 55 points in any game …sophomore guard Alvin Storrs (Northville, Mich.) was one of six Lakers to average more than 6.5 points per game last week. He averaged 11.0 points and 4.5 steals per game, including a career-high seven steals at Wayne State on Saturday. His seven steals are the most by a GLIAC player this season, while his 34 steals are tied for third-most in the GLIAC…after falling behind 21-4 to Wayne State, the Lakers outscored WSU 53-27 the rest of the game, while allowing just 20 second-half points to the Warriors. Grand Valley State scored the final 12 points of the game and shot 68.4 percent (13-of-19) from the floor in the second half… GVSU’s bench outscored Northwood 38-4 on Thursday night.

Hillsdale Chargers (5-11, 5-7 GLIAC)

The Hillsdale College men’s basketball team is now 4-1 in its past five games after a pair of home wins this weekend over South Division rivals Ashland and Tiffin…The Chargers scored a season-high 95 points in Saturday’s win over the Dragons…Hillsdale has won its last three games over the Dragons by a total of 105 points…Two of the team’s five best scoring games this season came over the weekend…The team went 20-for-21 from the free throw line vs. Ashland Thursday, the second-best percentage for a single game in school history…Senior Luke Laser has scored in double figures in five straight games, the longest such streak of his career…Freshman center Nick Washburn scored a career-high 15 points vs. Ashland Thursday, in just 14 minutes on the court…The Chargers wrap up a four-game homestand this week by hosting Saginaw Valley State and Lake Superior State Thursday and Saturday.

Lake Superior State Lakers (11-6, 9-3 GLIAC)

Senior guard Scott Perkins (Perrysburg, Ohio), who averaged 17.5 points per game to lead LSSU to a four-point victory over Northern Michigan and a three-point win against Michigan Tech last week, scored all of his 19 points against NMU in the second half and scored 12 of his 16 points against MTU during the final 20 minutes. He was a combined 11-of-17 from the field and 3-for-3 at the free-throw line in the second half for the week…Sophomore guard Kyle Hunt (Macomb, Mich.) totaled 13 points and 11 rebounds against MTU for his first double double of the season…Six of the Lakers’ 11 wins have been by five or fewer points…LSSU beat this week’s opponents, Findlay and Hillsdale, at home in December. Perkins averaged 31 points per game during that series…Perkins is tied for third in the GLIAC in scoring, averaging 18.4 ppg…Hunt is third in the league in assists at 4.4 apg, …Senior guard Garrett Konuszewski (Flushing, Mich.) leads the GLIAC in assist/turnover ratio (2.5).

Michigan Tech Huskies (4-13, 3-9 GLIAC)

Matt Gaedke (Dearborn, Mich./Edsel Ford) poured in 24 points at Saginaw Valley State and 13 more at Lake Superior State. The 6-3 guard has averaged 18.6 points over the last five games after scoring just 3.1 per contest over the first 12 outings of the year … Mike Hojnacki (Milwaukee, Wis./Eisenhower) tallied his second double-double in the last three games with 12 points and 12 rebounds at Lake Superior State last Saturday (Jan. 23). Hojnacki leads the team in both scoring (11.1 points per game) and rebounding (6.3 per game) this season … Four of Tech’s 13 losses this season are by five points or less … Michigan Tech has played 12 games on the road and five games at home so far in 2009-10. The Huskies will play its next two on the road before six of its last eight are at home.

Northern Michigan Wildcats (7-9, 4-8 GLIAC)

NMU will continue with its road swing this week with games at Ferris State and Grand Valley State…Raymont McElroy played the entire 40 minutes against the Lakers and Cardinals as he responded with 20 and 22 points respectively… McElroy, leads the team in the scoring column by averaging 17.6 ppg, added to his team-high assists count with seven against Lake Superior as he now has 69 on the season…Marc Renelique found his way back into the starting line-up against the Lakers and recorded a game-high 21 points, he is currently averaging 13.3 ppg…The ‘Cats shot 65.5 percent (19-29) from the floor against the Lakers in the second half and 57.9 percent (33-57) for the game…Jared Benson has pulled down a team-high 108 rebounds on the season (6.8 rpg) to go along with his 15 blocks…Chris Warner has 23 steals on the season to pace the ‘Cats…Renelique sank nine field goals for a team season high against the Lakers.

Northwood Timberwolves (7-9, 4-8 GLIAC)

Northwood dropped a pair of games last week at home, falling to Grand Valley State 64-55 before losing to Ferris State 86-73 … the Timberwolves are now 7-9 overall, 4-8 in the GLIAC … Dorian Pierce (Jackson, Mich.) led the way for Northwood for the week, averaging 17.0 points and 5.5 assists per game … Lionel Sullivan (Detroit, Mich./DePorres) averaged 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for the week … Sullivan has scored in double-figures in all 16 games this season … Northwood is currently tied for the final position in the GLIAC Tournament with Ashland and Northern Michigan … the Timberwolves will travel to Ashland and host Tiffin this week.

Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (12-5, 9-3 GLIAC)

SVSU defeated Michigan Tech, 74-69 Thursday in a GLIAC match up. Avery Stephenson ended the night with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Keithan Jackson scored 21 points and had nine rebounds for Saginaw Valley. As a team, the Cardinals shot 24-for 34 from the free throw line... The Cardinals then defeated Northern Michigan Saturday (Jan. 23) by a score of 59-56. SVSU was led by Stephenson, who finished the game with 18 points, six rebounds and two steals. Greg Foster ended the night with 11 points, two rebounds and two assists while Jackson recorded a game-high 13 rebounds and netted six points. This victory over NMU is the first six-game winning streak since the 2003-04 season and the most wins the Cardinals have had since the 2002-03 season, when they finished with a 14-13 overall record... The Cardinals will return to action on Thursday (Jan. 28), as they travel to take on Hillsdale College at 8:00 pm before playing at Findlay on Saturday (Jan. 30) for a 3:00 pm match-up.

Tiffin Dragons (1-16, 0-12 GLIAC)

Tiffin University couldn’t match the solid shooting of Hillsdale, as the Chargers hit at a 55 percent clip from the field in beating TU 95-74. Austin Smith, Keenan Barlow, DeAngelo Jordan, Mike Hammonds, and Mohammed Fall all had 11 points for TU…Tiffin University was no match for Findlay on the road, as the Oilers dominated play in the first half and easily outdistanced TU 91-62. DeAngelo Jordan led TU with 16 points and 6 rebounds while Keenan Barlow had 13 points and 7 rebounds. Travis Spahr added 9 points and Mohammed Fall 8 points.

Wayne State Warrior (8-8, 6-6 GLIAC)

Wayne State lost at home twice in 48 hours last week for the first time since Jan. 24-26, 2008, when Gannon and Mercyhurst each won at the Matthaei ... the Warriors shot a season-low 29.4 percent from the floor vs. Ferris State ... WSU had a season-high seven blocks against the Bulldogs with freshman Ian Larkin (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) registering a career-high three swats ... the 17 field goals allowed by the Warrior defense in the loss to Grand Valley is the fewest by a WSU opponent this year ... the 48 points scored by Wayne State (against GVSU) is a season low ... WSU’s lowest two league scoring outputs came last week ... the Warriors shot a season low 16.7 percent (3-of-18) from beyond the arc vs. the Lakers ... the Warriors had a season-high 20 turnovers vs. Grand Valley including 14 in the second half ... Larkin recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds ... WSU embarks on a four-game road swing starting Thursday at Tiffin ... Wayne State has lost four consecutive away games since winning twice in the Upper Peninsula to begin league play