MAC Men’s Basketball Co-Players of the Week
Setric Millner Jr., Toledo, Forward
Junior, Little Rock, Ark. (Grand Rapids (Mich.) Christian
Junior Setric Millner Jr. helped Toledo capture back-to-back outright Mid-American Conference titles for the first time in program history by averaging a team-high 19.5 ppg and shooting a red-hot 63.6 percent (14-of-22) from the field. Millner also shot 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from three-point range and 87.5 percent (7-of-8) from the free-throw line. A Little Rock, Ark. native, Millner opened his week on Tuesday by scoring 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and grabbing five rebounds in a 92-76 win at Buffalo. He then made 7-of-11 shots again as well as 3-of-4 from three-point range en route to tallying 19 points in the Rockets’ 96-56 victory over Bowling Green in their regular-season finale. Millner also helped Toledo hold the Falcons to their lowest point total of the season as well as a 35.4 FG%.
Sincere Carry, Kent State, Guard
Redshirt Junior, Solon, Ohio
Sincere Carry picked up his 12th and 13th 20+ point scoring performance of the season last week in wins over Northern Illinois and Buffalo. Carry led the Flashes to their 12th consecutive win while leading the team with 20 points and a season-high nine assists. He was 8-for-17 against the Bulls as the Flashes locked up the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament with a prime time nationally televised victory over Buffalo. Carry led the Flashes to a hard fought road win over NIU on Tuesday as well. He scored 22 points and added six assists as the Flashes battled to their sixth-straight road win. Carry scored or assisted on 80 of the Flashes' 134 points on the week (60 percent).
Other Nominees
Xavier Castaneda, Akron, Guard
Junior, Chicago, Ill. (Whitney Young)
Junior point guard Xavier Castaneda (Chicago, Ill.) led the Zips to a pair of wins in the final week of regular season play by averaging 19.5 points per game. The primary ball handler for Akron played just over 69 minutes and committed no turnovers while dishing out five assists. He scored a game-high 22 points in a 79-60 win over Ball State to open the week. Castaneda shot 7-of-13 (.538) from the floor, including a 5-of-10 (.500) showing from deep. In the season finale against Central Michigan, Castaneda scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds while shooting 7-of-16 (438) from the floor in a 57-56 win.
Demarius Jacobs, Ball State, Guard
Junior, Chicago, Ill. (Uplift)
Demarius led the team for the week with 11.5 points per game and added 7.5 rebounds per game. He finished in double figures for both games, 10 against Akron and 13 at WMU. He led the team with two blocks for the week.
Daeqwon Plowden, Bowling Green, Forward
Senior, Philadelphia, Pa. (Mastery Charter North)
Daeqwon Plowden played an instrumental role in the Falcons' upset win over Ohio on Tuesday (March 1). Plowden tied for the team lead in points with 18 while adding six rebounds and three assists. He also posted five blocks in the contest, the second time this season he's hit that mark. He's the first Falcon to have multiple games of five blocks or more in a single season since Richaun Holmes did so six times during the 2014-15 season. As for the game against Toledo on Friday (March 4), Plowden tallied a team-high 19 points with three rebounds and two assists. He added another pair of blocks in the contest as well as a steal.
Mo Njie, Eastern Michigan, F
Fr., Centerville, Ohio-Centerville-DME Sports Academy
Freshman Mo Njie (Centerville, Ohio-Centerville-DME Sports Academy) notched a double-double for the Eagles in the season finale at Miami, March 4, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. It was the second double-double for Njie, who previously accomplished the feat in the four overtime thriller against Florida International, Dec. 11. Njie tied his career-best in points (16) and field goals made in his return to southwest Ohio. A native of Centerville, Ohio, he was playing just 29 miles way from his hometown. Earlier in the week he poured in four points and grabbed five rebounds in the final home game of the year against Western Michigan, March 1.
Dae Dae, Grant, Miami
Guard, Junior, Lorain, Ohio (Lorain)
Dae Dae Grant paced Miami to a pair of wins in the final week of the regular-season that secured Miami a berth in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Grant scored 19 points in a road triumph at Central Michigan, draining nine free throws and handing out six assists. Grant again scored 19 points against Eastern Michigan, including 15 in the first half and helping Miami put together a 21-point run and take a 22-point lead in the opening 20 minutes. He shot 50.0 percent from the field against the Eagles and handed out four assists while hauling in five rebounds. For the week, Grant averaged 19.0 ppg, 5.0 apg, 4.0 rpg.
Mark Sears, Ohio, Guard
Sophomore, Muscle Shoals, Ala. / Hargrave Military Academy
Sophomore guard Mark Sears led Ohio over the final week of the regular season, averaging 20.5 points and 10.5 rebounds a game. Overall, he went 10-of-30 from the field, 4-of-13 from three and was a perfect 17-of-17 from the free throw line. He also dished out an average of 6.5 assists per game. On. March 1 at BGSU, Sears scored 22 points, going 10-of-10 from the line, while grabbing 13 boards. The on March 4 at NIU, Sears scored 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out eight assists. He was also 7-for-7 from the line.
Lamar Norman Jr., Western Michigan, Guard
Junior, Grand Rapids, Mich. (Godwin Heights)
Lamar Norman Jr. wrapped up the regular season with 22.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting an even 50 percent (17-of-34) from the field and 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from three-point range. Norman's final week began with a career-high 35-point performance, which included a 24-point explosion in the second half, as WMU rallied to win at Eastern Michigan. The junior hit 13-of-20 (.650) from the field in that contest, and buried a career-high eight three-pointers (one shy of the program's single-game record), on 12 attempts. Norman then had 10 more points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in Friday's finale against Ball State.
