Arkansas Tech junior earns GAC weekly honor

RUSSELLVILLE — Arkansas Tech junior forward Brenda da Silva was named the Great American Conference’s Player of the Week in women’s basketball while Southern Nazarene senior guard Jhonathan Dunn earned the men’s award in the league’s sixth weekly awards of the season.

Da Silva earned her second-straight double-double as the Golden Suns downed Southern Arkansas on the road. The Rio de Janeiro native scored 15 points while pulling down 16 rebounds, the single-game high for the league this season, and she has averaged 17.0 points and 14.0 rebounds in her last two games after averaging 6.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in her first four.

Others nominated for the women’s award were Harding forward Kennedy Cooper, Arkansas-Monticello guard Berniezha Tidwell, Southern Nazarene guard Alexus Jones and Southwestern Oklahoma State guard Tyra Aska.

Dunn, a San Antonio product, earned his fourth Player of the Week award, leading the Crimson Storm to a 77-65 victory over No.

14 Southeastern Oklahoma State. He earned his fifth 30-point game of the season with a season-high 34 points on 12-of-19 shooting and

4 of 8 from beyond the arc, and he grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds.

Among those nominated for the men’s award were Ouachita guard Allie Freeman, Southern Arkansas forward Devante Brooks, Harding guard Romio Harvey, UAM guard Austin Hardy and Oklahoma Baptist guard Jaquan Simms.

Reddies earn 3.0 GPA for sixth-straight semester

ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State’s student-athletes earned their sixth-consecutive semester with a GPA of 3.0 or better as the nearly 400 athletes turned in a cumulative 3.04 GPA.

The 3.04 GPA for the fall semester is the second-highest mark for the athletic department, trailing last spring’s 3.07. The Reddies’ streak dates back to 2017.

“I continue to be proud of our student-athletes and the work they have put in to achieve this level of success in the classroom,” athletic director Shawn Jones said. “Their strong academic standing has become routine thanks to their own hard work, as well as the work of our coaches, who do a fantastic job of putting them in a position to succeed both academically and athletically. I am incredibly appreciative of everyone on campus who supports our department and its student-athletes in our pursuit of excellence.”

A total of 12 teams finished with a combined GPA of 3.0 or higher with 48 student-athletes earning perfect 4.0 GPAs. There were 80 who earned between a 3.5 and 3.99 GPA with 106 recording between a 3.0 and 3.49. Golf led the men’s teams with a 3.22 mark while women’s cross country led the department as a whole with a 3.47 GPA.

OBU routs Champion

ARKADELPHIA — Allie Freeman and Raymond Harris combined for 30 points as Ouachita Baptist (5-4) cruised past Champion Christian 80-50 Tuesday at Bill Vining Arena.

Freeman and Harris both came off the bench for 15 points each while shooting 5 for 8 from the field as all 12 members of OBU’s roster contributed to the score. Champion Christian’s Ariyon Williams led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

Jacob Street hit a 3-pointer with 3:59 off the clock in the first half to give OBU a 7-4 lead, a lead the team never surrendered. The Tigers capitalized on the transition game as OBU scored 22 of their points off turnovers in the first half for a 45-26 halftime lead.

OBU did not let off the accelerator in the second half as it stretched to a 28-point lead over the visiting Tigers on a Xavier Hall alley-oop dunk off an assist from Freeman with 6:58 left in the game. Freeman then hit a 3-pointer to push OBU’s lead out to 70-40.

OBU will be off until after the start of the year when the Tigers host Southern Nazarene on Jan. 2 at 7:30 p.m.