Men's Basketball

PSAC Men's Basketball Athletes of the Week - 8

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference has announced its Men’s Basketball Athletes of the Week. In the West, IUP's Garvin Clarke (Athlete of the Week) and Slippery Rock's Maceo Austin (Defensive Athlete) were selected. In the East, Lock Haven's Justice Shoats (Athlete) and Millersville's Day Waters (Defense) earning the honors.

Western Division Athlete of the Week
 
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Garvin Clarke
IUP
Guard
Junior
Euclid, Ohio / Euclid HS
 
Clarke set career scoring highs in a pair of wins for IUP last week against UPJ (1/17/24) and Edinboro (1/20/24), averaging 28.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists for the Crimson Hawks. He played all 40 minutes in both contests, shooting 56.8% from the floor and adding seven steals. In the 73-72 road victory at UPJ he tallied 27 points, 10 rebounds and three assists and added 30 points (10-15 FG), four rebounds and six assists in the following contest against Edinboro.
 

Western Division Defensive Athlete of the Week
 
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Maceo Austin
Slippery Rock
Guard
Graduate Student
Sharon, Pa. / Kennedy Catholic
 
Austin led the Slippery Rock men’s basketball team to a 1-1 record last week. SRU earned its first road win of the year with an 80-77 victory at Pitt-Johnstown while also nearly upsetting 15th-ranked Gannon in a close 95-90 overtime loss to the nationally ranked Golden Knights. In two games, Austin totaled seven steals, six blocks and 20 total rebounds (13 defensive) while also adding 23.5 points per game. Austin opened the week by blocking five shots and making three steals in The Rock’s near upset of Gannon followed by pocketing four steals and blocking one shot in SRU’s win at UPJ. Austin’s five rejections against Gannon is tied for the highest single-game block total in the PSAC-West this year. 
 

Eastern Division Athlete of the Week
 
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Justice Shoats
Lock Haven
Guard
Sophomore
Wilkes-Barre, Pa. / Holy Redeemer

Shoats led the Bald Eagles to a pair of PSAC East victories last week, including knocking off the No. 11/8 team in the country ESU on Wednesday night. He averaged 19.5 points, 4.5 assists, and three rebounds per game last week, while getting to the free throw line 8.5 times per game. In the upset victory over ESU, Shoats scored 19 points, while going 7-of-10 at the foul line, with the majority coming down the stretch to seal the win. Against Shepherd, Shoats helped the Bald Eagles knock down a season-high 13 trifectas as he dished out a game-high six assists to go with a game-high 20 points. The warrior has played the full 40 minutes in six straight games as his team has improved to 10-5 overall and 8-2 in the PSAC, remaining in a tie for the top spot in the Eastern Division.

 

Eastern Division Defensive Athlete of the Week 
 
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Day Waters
Millersville
Guard
Sophomore
Silver Spring, Md. / Our Lady of Good Counsel

Waters averaged 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game in Millersville's two road wins -- 69-44 over Shepherd and 82-64 over Mansfield. The 44 points scored by  Shepherd was the Rams' lowest offensive output of the season and also the least amount of points given up by Millersville all season. Waters grabbed a season-high nine rebounds and blocked a career-high three shots to go with two steals against Shepherd, and he then added a team-high seven rebounds and a steal at Shepherd.