BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Awards and numbers continue to mount up for Eastern Illinois men's basketball as the Panthers added a pair of Ohio Valley Conference weekly awards to the resume on Monday.
Kinyon Hodges was named the OVC Newcomer of the Week for the second consecutive week while
Kyle Thomas collected his third OVC Freshman of the Week accolade.
Hodges continued to carry the Panthers offense as he scored over 20 points in both weekend road games for the Panthers finishing the week averaging 23.5 points per game. Hodges opened with 22 points on Thursday at Tennessee State as a late EIU rally came up short. On Saturday at UT Martin he scored 19 of his season high 25 points in the first half. Hodges shot 50 percent from the field for the week (16-of-32) and was 5-of-12 from 3-point range (41.7 pct) and 10-of-11 from the foul line. He pulled down 12 rebounds to average 6.0 for the week while passing out five assists, with four steals and one block. Hodges is currently seventh in the OVC in scoring and tenth in the league in field goal percentage.
Thomas started both games for the Panthers on the road and ended the week averaging in double figures at 11.5 points per game for the week. He opened on Thursday with a season high 16 points going 6-of-7 from the field and 4-of-4 from the foul line. On Saturday at UT Martin he scored seven points as he shot 60 percent from the field for the week. Thomas pulled down ten rebounds (5.0 rpg) including six on the offensive glass. He would contribute three steals and two assists.
EIU returns to action this week with a road game on Thursday night at Southern Indiana before hosting Southeast Missouri on Saturday.
