Eastern Illinois men's basketball collected a weekly Ohio Valley Conference award for the second straight week as Markus Blackwell was named the OVC Freshman of the Week.
 
Blackwell earned the honor following his performance in the Panthers non-conference 110-56 win over East-West University prior to the holiday break.
 
In the win Blackwell posted a balanced stat line with eight points, six rebounds and five assists playing just over 20 minutes in the win.  He was 2-of-4 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
 
Blackwell has scored in six of the nine games he has played in this season with previous season high scoring totals of three points at Notre Dame and No. 4 Iowa State.
 
He joins junior guard Meechie White as award winners for the Panthers this season.  White was the OVC Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 22 for his performance in EIU's overtime OVC win over SIUE.
 
The Panthers return to OVC action on Thursday ringing in the New Year at Southeast Missouri at 7:30 pm followed by a Saturday game at UT Martin at 3:30 pm.