INDIANAPOLIS – Ohio Dominican and Malone received Great Midwest Athletic Conference Basketball Players of the Week awards as announced on Monday afternoon.
Walsh currently leads both men’s and women’s points rating system standings. The men is crowded at the top with the Cavaliers followed by Hillsdale, Cedarville, Findlay and Ohio Dominican in the first five.
The women’s standings have Kentucky Wesleyan and Malone in second and third, respectively. Cedarville and Findlay round out the top five programs.
Men’s Basketball Player of the Week
Hasan Varence
Ohio Dominican
Forward
Senior
Queens, NY (Columbus Linden McKinley HS)
Recently named to the Bevo Francis Top 100 watchlist (by Small College Basketball) that recognizes the top player in Division II hoops, Varence continued to be a force to be reckoned with.
The Panthers took care of business at home against Ohio Valley in double overtime and scored a win on the road at Tiffin.
Varence was at his usual craft, averaging 23.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting north of 62 percent. He had a double-double as ODU dug in deep to beat Ohio Valley with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Against Tiffin, he erupted for 31 points and had nine rebounds while shooting 15-of-21 from the field.
Varence has already been named a USBWA National Player of the Week earlier this year and has been conference player of the week three times in the season.
This is his seventh conference career weekly honor after earning all-conference honors as both a sophomore and junior, ODU’s first two years as a league member.
The Bevo Francis Top 100 watchlist will be trimmed down to 50 names on February 15, cut to 25 on March 5 and the finalists will be announced on April 4.
He remains among the league leaders ranking second in points, third in rebounds and sixth in field goal percentage.
Women’s Basketball Player of the Week
Holly Groff
Malone
Guard
RS Junior
Macedonia, OH (Nordonia HS)
Groff was a one-person wrecking crew against Hillsdale in the Pioneers’ lone game of the week as the talented guard filled up the box score with impressive scoring totals.
Groff scored 33 points, tied for the single-game high in the league this season with Hannah Henderson (Alderson Broaddus) and Sydney Kin (Findlay).
In Malone’s win, she was 11-of-17 from the field and deadly from deep while sinking nine three-point shots, just two shy of the single-game conference record.
Groff also dished out five assists to her teammates as Malone shot over 52 percent from the floor collectively. She also had two rebounds and a steal in 35 minutes of time on the court.
Malone is 7-1 in the conference schedule and 13-5 overall while taking a five-game win streak into the new week of competition.
Groff is fourth in the league in scoring and tops among all qualified players in three-point percentage (.441). She also plays almost 34 minutes per game, the second highest average in the conference.