INDIANAPOLIS – The Thanksgiving holiday saw several teams around the league take the court as Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week honors were announced for Findlay on Monday afternoon.
 
The Great Midwest schedule tips off later this week with five games counting for standings starting Thursday, Dec. 2. Hillsdale remains the lone Great Midwest team entrenched in the NABC Poll at No. 16 while Ashland is in the receiving votes (13) category through the first few weeks of the season.
 
Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week
Nathan Bruns
Findlay
Forward
Junior
Chickasaw, OH (Marion Local HS)
 
The Oilers collected a pair of regional wins against programs that regularly make an appearance in the Midwest field come NCAA tourney time, No. 14 Ferris State and Wisconsin-Parkside.
 
The Oilers handed Ferris State its first loss of the year in Croy Gymnasium in double-digit fashion, 86-74, on Tuesday while going to Kenosha to earn a road win over the Rangers in a 68-62 final.
 
The junior big man was 15-of-23 from the field while shooting over 65 percent from the field. He averaged 16.5 points per game while averaging six rebounds. Bruns also chipped in three assists and a blocked shot.
 
The Oilers were well rounded against FSU while five different players scored in double-figures and the team shot over 48 percent while making nearly half of its 15 tries from long range. Bruns would finish with 13 points and five rebounds.
 
At Wisconsin-Parkside, Bruns netted a game-high 20 points on an efficient 10-of-14 from the field. The Oilers again took good shots and ended up shooting just under 51 percent for the game.
 
Bruns is off to a hot start this year while averaging a career high 14.7 points per game in a small sample size of six games. He ranks among the best in the league with a 59.1 field goal percentage while averaging almost seven rebounds.
 
Bruns scored exactly 314 points in his freshman and sophomore seasons while going over 700 for his career in his past two games.