INDIANAPOLIS – With a set of league games being played out on Monday, the sixth pairing of Great Midwest Athletic Conference Basketball Players of the Week were released on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Men’s Basketball Player of the Week
Gabe Kynard
Lake Erie
Guard
Senior
Toledo, OH (St. John’s HS)
 
The Storm defended their home court with grit as Kynard went into takeover mode at times to earn back-to-back weekly league honors.
 
Lake Erie improved to 8-4 overall with a pair of victories in conference play against Ohio Valley and Alderson Broaddus. The Storm are now 3-1 in the league standings.
 
Kynard became the program’s all-time leading scorer in the process and currently owns the title of Great Midwest scoring king as his average for the season sits north of 20 points per game.
 
Kynard is now over 1,500 points in his career as his recent scoring binge resulted in 24.5 ppg and 3.5 rpg while shooting close to 50 percent from the field.
 
Kynard scored 15 of his team’s final 19 points to help propel LEC over Alderson Broaddus on Monday.
 
He was just as effective against OVU while playing 24 minutes. Kynard poured in 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting as the Storm dominated each half. He added five assists and three steals.
 
Kynard came through with a game high 25 points while playing all possible 40 minutes on the floor. He was 7-of-17 on all shots and made nine free throws.
 
Kynard is now averaging a Great Midwest best 20.9 points per game and pulling down 6.7 rebounds as one of the top guards in the league. His field goal percentage is now at .455, another top 12 mark in the league leaders.
 
Women’s Basketball Player of the Week
Holly Groff
Malone
Guard
RS Junior
Macedonia, OH (Nordonia HS)
 
Groff and the Pioneers are off to an unbeaten start in the conference schedule, joining Kentucky Wesleyan and Walsh at 3-0 so far.
 
Malone and reigning conference coach of the year Selana Reale did its work on the road over the past week, taking down Ohio Dominican and Tiffin to keep setting the pace at the top.
 
Groff was the key catalyst behind Malone’s success while averaging 18.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, three assists and two steals, in the two wins.
 
It has been a long journey for Groff on the road to recovery from a torn ACL that prompted a redshirt during the 2018-19 season.
 
Groff had 14 points and crashed the glass for eight boards vs. Ohio Dominican on Saturday. She had a pair of threes and recorded three steals.
 
On Monday, Groff produced a game high 23 points at Tiffin and matched her season-best effort with five assists. She was 7-for-16 from the field and made four triples while going a perfect 5-for-5 at the line.
 
She has now been named conference player of the week two times throughout her career.
 
Groff is now averaging 14.6 points per game to go with 5.6 rebounds as Malone stands at 7-3 overall.