INDIANAPOLIS – Entering the final week of the regular season, 11 teams from the league are battling for playoff contention through the Point Rating System (PRS) as Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week honors were announced Monday.
 
Mathematically, everyone is contention for the top eight seeds that will make up the conference championship bracket. That goes for the current top eight and schools like Lake Erie, Ohio Dominican and Tiffin, are also in the hunt.
 
No. 11-ranked Hillsdale officially locked up the regular season title outright with Saturday’s home victory against Ohio Valley. The Chargers pushed their win streak to 14 straight and by virtue of winning percentage, will not be caught at the top of the standings.
 
Hilsdale, Findlay and Kentucky Wesleyan, are all on the radar of the national committee in the first set of NCAA Atlantic Region ‘Under Consideration’ rankings.
 
Coaches will also begin the all-conference process this week as the top players from the league are recognized for their work throughout the season. The all-conference team will still be released the night prior to the semifinals despite no championship banquet due to COVID protocols this year.
 
The conference championship bracket will be released Sunday evening with one afternoon contest scheduled to be played.
 
Men’s Basketball Player of the Week
Marcus Ernst
Malone
Forward
Senior
Ashtabula, OH (Edgewood HS)
 
It has been a bit of a roller coaster season for the Pioneers with four straight losses to begin the year. But starting in mid-January, Malone reeled off seven wins in eight games and are currently sporting a four-game win streak with three important contest this week, including the Mayor’s Cup vs. rival Walsh.
 
Now Malone is in position to host a first-round quarterfinal game next Tuesday and secure one of the top seeds in the conference tournament. The Pioneers were road warriors last week with wins away from Canton against Ohio Valley and Cedarville. They also earned a home win in the middle of the week against Tiffin.
 
Ernst, one of the league’s most dynamic two-players, was the catalyst of consistency with three straight double-doubles as he averaged over 20 points and pulled 12 rebounds per game. He also shot almost 65 percent from the field.


Malone matched its season high point total with 101 points against Ohio Valley as the team hit the century mark in scoring for the third time this year. It was hard to ask much more of the senior forward as he shared the team lead with 21 points and collected 11 boards. He was 9-of-11 from the field and added an assist and one block.
 
The Pioneers overcame a slight halftime deficit to grind out a tough win against Tiffin. Ernst again was near-perfect on shot attempts missing just four of his 12 taken and added eight more points at the free throw line. Ernst finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and swatted five shots, which equaled the league’s best single game total this year with Cedarville’s Kollin Van Horn.
 
Malone’s win against Cedarville was icing on the cake for the perfect week as Ernst was one of five players to score in double figures. This time he had 16 points, 11 rebounds and handed out three assists.
 
Ernst is one of three the league’s top-10 scoring leaders from head coach Casey Kaufman’s program (Bo Myers, Bryce Butler). He has taken over as the league leader in rebounding (9.5 rpg) and is third in field goal percentage (62.0).