MAC Men’s Basketball East Division Co-Players of the Week
Loren Cristian Jackson, Akron, Guard
Junior, Chicago, Ill. (Victory Rock Prep)
Loren Cristian Jackson led the Akron Zips to a 1-1 record with two-career high performances. Jackson notched 35-points in each of the Zips games, a 78-60 loss to Bowling Green and a 86-73 win over Buffalo. Both games were on the road. Jackson scored a combined 70 points (35 ppg) while grabbing eight rebounds (4.0 rbs/g) and dishing out eight assists (4.0 ast/g). He connected on 45.3 percent of his shots from the field (24-of-53), 29.2 percent from deep (7-of-24) and 93.8 percent from the free throw line (15-of-16). Against the Falcons, The Zips struggled to make shots, often wide-open looks, but Jackson scored 35 points on 12-of-26 shooting from the field, 3-of-13 from deep and 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. He recorded four rebounds and two assists while attempting to put the team on his back and recover from their offensive struggles. With that performance, Jackson became the 46th member of the Zips 1,000 point scoring club as he finished with 1,011 points in just under two complete seasons (61 games). At Buffalo, Jackson provided nearly the same stat line, scoring 35 points with a12-of-27 effort from the floor, 4-of-11 from deep and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Jackson pushed out a team-best six assists, grabbed four rebounds and had one steal. With the score tied 69-69, Jackson recorded 11 consecutive points and fueled the Zips 17-4 run to close the game. The win marked the first time Jackson defeated the Bulls as Akron snapped a six-game losing streak against Buffalo. The Zips also moved into a first-place stalemate with BGSU.
Jason Preston, Ohio, Guard
Sophomore, Orlando, Fla. (Boone)
Preston led the Bobcats this past week. Overall, Preston averaged 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game while helping the Bobcats to victories over Buffalo and Kent State. Preston also shot 59.1 percent from the field and went 10-of-12 from the free throw line. He also only committed four turnovers in 80 total minutes on the court
MAC Men’s Basketball West Division Player of the Week
Marreon Jackson, Toledo, Guard
Junior, Cleveland, Ohio (Garfield Heights)
Jackson guided Toledo to a pair of important victories last week by averaging 27.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 4.5 apg. Jackson posted an impressive 55.6 three-point FG% (10-of-18) and missed just one free throw in 14 attempts for a 92.9 free throw percentage. Jackson opened the week on Tuesday by exploding for a career-high 37 points in the Rockets’ 93-81 victory at Central Michigan. Jackson was extremely efficient shooting the ball as he went 12-of-18 from the field, 7-of-9 from three-point range and a perfect 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. He scored 16 points in the first half before tallying 21 in the final 20 minutes. Jackson's 37 points is the most by a Rocket since Tyrone Kent scored 37 at Xavier on Nov. 17, 2008 and one shy for the most in a MAC game since Nick Moore tallied 38 vs. Ball State on March. 5, 2003. Jackson was one of two Rockets in double figures in Saturday’s win at Ball State, contributing 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 37 minutes. He helped Toledo secure a six-point victory by hitting all four of his free throws in the final 40 seconds. Jackson ranks third in the MAC in overall scoring at 19.7 ppg and is second in league play with 21.9 ppg. He is also second with 5.6 apg in overall contests.
Other Top Performances
Ishmael El-Amin, Ball State, Guard
Junior, Minneapolis, Minn. (Hopkins)
Ishmael El-Amin averaged 15.5 points and 2.5 steals per game for Ball State last week. The junior guard scored 21 points and matched his career-high with five 3-pointers Tuesday to lead the Cardinals past Western Michigan. It was El-Amin’s fourth 20-point game of the season. He also added three steals. El-Amin then scored 10 points Saturday at Toledo.
Daeqwon Plowden, Bowling Green, Forward
Junior, Philadelphia, Pa. (Mastery Charter North)
Plowden shot 50.0 percent (11-of-22), and averaged 18.0 points and 12.0 rebounds in Bowling Green's 1-1 week. Plowden also went 11-of-11 at the free throw line, while recording the ninth and 10th double-doubles of his season. In BGSU's crucial win over Akron (Feb. 25), the native of Philadelphia posted 10 points and 13 rebounds. Over the weekend at Miami (Feb. 29), Plowden had 11 rebounds and scored a career-high 26 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
Boubacar Toure, Eastern Michigan, Center
Redshirt Senior, Dakar, Senegal (Phase One Academy)
Toure led Eastern Michigan last week, as the Eagle went 1-1. Toure averaged a double-double with 12.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game. He also contributed 4.0 blocks, 1.5 assists, and 0.5 steals in 32.5 minutes per game. The center shot 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from the floor between the two contests. Toure was one of four Eagles who scored in double-figures in the 73-71 loss to Northern Illinois, Feb. 25. He tallied 11 points and pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds to go along with three assists and a trio of blocks in 34 minutes of play. On Senior Day, Feb. 29, the Dakar, Senegal native notched his 20th double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds, as the Green and White topped Central Michigan, 67-63. Toure also swatted away a career-high five shots against the Chippewas. The redshirt senior ranks second on the team averaging 11.1 points per game and is grabbing a team-best 9.3 rebounds. Toure also lead the Mid-American Conference with a 66.0 field goal percentage (136-of-206).
Antonio Williams, Kent State, Guard
Senior, Chicago, Ill.
Williams led the Kent State Golden Flashes in scoring in both games last week averaging 19.5 per game. In the 74-61 win against Miami, Williams led the Flashes with 17 points, five rebounds, and three assists. He also blocked two shots and swiped two steals. Against Ohio, Williams scored 22 points, his fifth game scoring 20+ points. Williams grabbed seven rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists. On Feb. 25 against Buffalo, Preston scored 19 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists. He also went 6-of-14 from the field, hit one three and went 6-of-8 from the free throw line in Ohio's 80-69 victory over the Bulls. Preston picked back up where he left off on Feb. 28 against Kent State. Preston scored 18 point, grabbed five rebounds and dished out 10 assists and did not commit a turnover. Preston of 7-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line in the 76-69 victory.
Nike Sibande, Miami, Guard
Junior, Indianapolis, Ind. (Crispus Attucks)
Sibande had a fantastic week in leading the RedHawk to two key victories. He led Miami with 16.3 points per game in his three total games played, as well as leading the way with 7.7 rebounds per contest. After scoring eight points against Kent State on Tuesday, he picked up his play when the 'Hawks needed it most. In a win over Central Michigan on Thursday, Sibande had 17 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Despite playing in his third game in five days, he was even better in Miami's 73-55 win over MAC leading Bowling Green on Saturday. Sibande recorded his sixth double-double of the season, finishing with 24 points and tying a career-high with 11 rebounds. He moved into 10th place all-time on Miami's scoring list.
Eugene German, NIU, Guard
Senior Gary, Ind. (21st Century Charter)
German continues to be spectacular as the Gary, Ind., native averaged 25.0 points per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field and better than 40 percent from three-point range, in a pair of road games last week at Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan. In the first game of the week at Eastern Michigan (Feb. 25), German tied a season-high with 27 points, saving the most important for last as he hit a triple with less than 10 seconds left to give NIU its only lead of the game as the Huskies topped the Eagles, 73-71. The Huskie senior went 9-of-18 from the floor against Eastern Michigan, including 7-of-16 from three-point range, with four assists and four rebounds. At Western Michigan (Feb. 29), German added another 23 points, going 10-of-20 from the field with a pair of assists and a pair of steals. The leading scorer in the conference at 20.5 points per game, 20th in the nation, German has also moved up to sixth in MAC history in scoring with 2,164 career points.
Brandon Johnson, Western Michigan, Forward
Redshirt junior, Chicago, Ill. (Thea Bowman Leadership Academy)
Johnson led the Broncos with 16 points and 7 rebounds per game as WMU split a pair of games last weekend, falling to Ball state before defeating MAC West leader Northern Illinois on Saturday. Johnson led WMU in scoring in both games, registering 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field with a career-high three three-pointers at Ball State. Johnson also led WMU on the boards with seven rebounds. Johnson followed up his performance with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting with three from long distance in a win over Northern Illinois. Johnson against the Huskies also added a team-high seven rebounds to go with two assists and one block. Johnson has scored in double figures in each of the past five games and is averaging 15.1 points and 7.9 rebounds over the past five contests. For the week Johnson was a staggering 6-of-7 from behind the three-point line. With 32 points on the week, Johnson is now just 38 points away from becoming the 44th member of WMU’s 1,000-point club
