Lowman, Willis, Evans, Kershaw Earn OCCAC Basketball POTW Honors

By Nicholas Huenefeld/OCCAC Sports Information

Springfield, Ohio---Wade Lowman, Rodney Willis, Aaryn Evans and Hunter Kershaw have been named the OCCAC D-II and D-III player of the week recipients for games played between Feb. 27-March 5.

NJCAA Division II OCCAC WBB Player of the Week
Aaryn Evans, Sinclair C.C.

Evans, a freshman center, produced 14 points and 14 rebounds to lead her team to a 61-43 win over Edison Community College on Saturday. In doing so, she helped her team secure the No. 4 seed and a home game against Edison in the Region XII District I quarterfinals tonight at 5:30 p.m.

Evans also added two assists, two steals and one block over 28 minutes. She finished 7-for-10 from the field and four of her 14 rebounds came on the offensive end.

Evans averaged 9.5 points, 12.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game for Sinclair (22-7, 10-6 OCCAC) during the regular season. In conference play, she averaged 7.5 points, 10.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

The award is the second of the season for Evans, who also won on Nov. 28.

NJCAA Division III OCCAC WBB Player of the Week
Hunter Kershaw, Columbus State C.C.

Kershaw, a sophomore forward, averaged 25 points, six rebounds and two assists while nearly leading her team to a Division III district championship last week.

In an 88-77 win over Hocking College in the Division III Region XII championship game, Kershaw had 36 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 39 minutes. She finished 15-for-26 from the field and 6-for-9 from the foul line. Then, in a 68-58 loss to No. 1 Rock Valley, she had 14 points, four rebounds and one steal. She finished 6-for-14 from the field and 2-for-3 from the foul line.

Overall, Kershaw shot 21-for-40 from the field in the two games.

Kershaw led Columbus State to a 12-15 record overall this year, including a 7-8 record in OCCAC play. She averaged 16.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game overall, as well as 15.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists and one steal per game in conference play.

In her two-year career, Kershaw averaged 16.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. She totaled 899 points, 471 rebounds, 61 assists, 61 steals and 31 blocks in 56 career games.

NJCAA Division II OCCAC MBB Player of the Week
Wade Lowman, Cuyahoga C.C.

Lowman, a freshman forward, produced 34 points, 16 rebounds, two assists, three steals and one block in a 104-60 win over Lakeland Community College on Saturday. In doing so, he helped lead his team to a share of the OCCAC regular season championship.

In 26 games played, Lowman is averaging 11.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and one steal per game. In OCCAC play, he averaged 11.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and one steal per game.

Cuyahoga (27-2 overall, 14-2 OCCAC) gets a Region XII District 11 quarterfinal round bye based on earning the No. 2 seed for the tournament. They will face the winner of the Owens vs Clark State quarterfinal on Friday at 8 p.m. The semifinals and finals of the tournament are being held at Ohio Christian University in Circleville, Ohio.

NJCAA Division III OCCAC MBB Player of the Week
Rodney Willis, Columbus State C.C.

Willis, a sophomore guard, closed his career with a fourth straight OCCAC player of the week award. In his team's heartbreaking 107-104 overtime loss to Lorain County Community College in the Division III Region XII championship game, Willis nearly had a triple-double and finished with 35 points, 13 rebounds, eight steals, two assists and two blocks.

Willis shot 11-for-27 from the field (2-for-7 from 3-point range) and 11-for-14 from the foul line in the game before fouling out after 36 minutes of action.

In his sophomore year, Willis averaged 22.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game. In conference play, he averaged 21 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game while leading Columbus State to a 13-13 (10-6 OCCAC) record.

Willis closed his two-year career with averages of 15.5 points, six rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He totaled 743 points, 288 rebounds, 105 assists, 73 steals and 23 blocks despite missing the first half of his sophomore year due to injury.