November 17
Mike Dowden - Guard - St. Norbert College
Senior - Walworth, Wis./Big Foot
Dowden scored 15 points, connecting on 5 of 7 3-point field goal attempts, to lead the Green Knights to a 66-62 road win over UW-Oshkosh. Dowden also had one assist, one blocked shot and one steal. It was St. Norbert’s first win over UWOshkosh since 1991, ending a 10-game losing streak in the series. It was St. Norbert’s first win over a WIAC foe since 1996 and the first road win over a WIAC men’s basketball opponent since 1985.
November 24
Josh Gould - Guard - Carroll University
Senior - Chicago, Ill/Mount Carmel
Gould paced Carroll to a 95-82 win over North Park University with career highs in points (24) and rebounds (17). The four-year standout on the Pioneer football team is making his mark as a hoopster, averaging 17.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in the opening three games of the season.
December 1
John Hoch - Guard - Carroll University
Junior - Colgate, Wis./ Hartland Arrowhead
Hoch netted 22 and 26 points in wins over Wisconsin Lutheran College and Concordia (WI) University, respectively,
in the Wisconsin Classic hosted by Concordia. In addition to 22 points in the 104-94 win over Wisconsin Lutheran,
the junior dished out 10 assists, grabbed two rebounds and recorded three steals. Hoch then added 26 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals in an 89-73 win over Concordia. The wins improved Carroll to 3-2 on the season.
December 8
Ryan Kroeger - Guard - Lawrence University
Senior - Glendale, Wis./Nicolet
Kroeger led Lawrence to a 3-0 record this past week that included a 75-59 thrashing of No. 7 UW-Stevens Point.
For the week, Kroeger averaged 22.3 points and shot 60.5 percent from the floor. He scored 16 points in Lawrence’s
win over the Pointers and had five rebounds and six assists in the contest. He then poured in 32 points, one shy of his career high, in an 81-70 victory over Knox. He was a perfect 13 of 13 from the foul line in that game. Kroeger finished his week with 19 points in an 84-64 victory over Illinois College. In the three games, he averaged 3.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
December 15
David Arseneault - Guard - Grinnell College
Senior - Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell
Arseneault recorded two double-doubles over the last week, giving him seven in as many outings this season. He had 13
points and 10 assists in a 133-80 victory over Knox College that moved the Pioneers’ Midwest Conference record to
3-0. He followed that up with a 13-point, 13-assist performance against Waldorf College. For the season, he’s averaging 15.9 points and 13.6 assists per game.
January 5
John Hoch - Guard - Carroll University
Junior - Colgate, Wis./Hartland Arrowhead
Hoch scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Pioneers past No. 5 UW-Stevens Point in non-conference men’s basketball. Hoch, who connected on 9-of-14 shots from the field and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line, led Carroll to the 85-71 road victory. The Colgate, Wis. native (Hartland Arrowhead High School) is averaging a team-best 23.9 points per game from his point guard position. The Pioneers are currently 6-3 on the season.
January 12
John Grotberg - Guard - Grinnell College
Senior - Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer
Grotberg became Grinnell’s all-time leading scorer with his 36-point output at Fontbonne last Monday night. He was a sizzling 10-of-19 from 3-point land in the game as he boosted his career point total to 2,385, surpassing Steve Wood’s total of 2,379. Grotberg continued his strong play in a victory over Illinois College on Saturday with a 35-point output as the Pioneers moved to 4-0 in Midwest Conference play.
January 19
Scott Gillespie - Guard - Ripon College
Sophomore - Ripon, Wis./Ripon
In three games last week, Gillespie averaged 23.7 points, 4.0 rebounds 6.7 assists and 3.0 steals per game, while shooting 54 percent (31-57) from the field. His week was highlighted by a 28-point, 5-rebound, 9-assist performance in a four-point loss against conference-leader Carroll University. Gillespie, who is fourth in the MWC in scoring (21.1 ppg), is the only player in the conference to rank in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and assists.
January 26
Ryan Kroeger - Guard - Lawrence University
Senior - Glendale, Wis./Nicolet
Kroeger averaged 29 points and shot 81.5 percent from the floor in two games this past weekend. In a 101-100 loss to Grinnell, he scored 28 points and hit 11 of 11 shots from the floor, just missing tying the Lawrence record for field goal percentage in a game. Adam LaVoy was 12-for-12 against Grinnell back in January 2001. Kroeger also had five rebounds and tied for game-high honors with six assists. He followed that by scoring 30 points, hitting 11 of 16 shots from the floor in a 95-70 win over Monmouth. For the two games, Kroeger was 22 of 27 from the floor, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range.
February 2
Aris Wurtz - Forward - Ripon College
Freshman - Waupun, Wis./Waupun
Wurtz led Ripon to an upset win at Lawrence in their only game last week, scoring a career-high 24 points in 23 minutes of action. Twenty-two of those points came in the second half, keeping Ripon’s MWC Tournament hopes alive. Wurtz made 9 of his 11 field goals in the game, while converting on all five of his free throws. He also recorded seven rebounds, including two offensive.
February 9
Mark Gillingham - Guard - Illinois College
Senior - Carrollton, Ill./Carrollton
Gillingham stepped up his game in a big way last week by averaging 27.0 points per game over a three-game
stretch for the Blueboys. The IC cocaptain , who scored his 1,000th career point earlier this season, started his
scoring surge with a 28-point effort vs. Knox in an 81-62 victory Feb. 3. His stellar play continued Feb. 6 against Lawrence when he scored 29 points in an 86-76 loss, and Gillingham closed out his highest-scoring week Feb. 7 when 24 points in a 74-70 loss to Carroll. For the week, the veteran guard connected on .53 percent of his field goal attempts (26-49) and made good on .48 of his 3-point field goal tries (15-31). He also contributed 14 rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals.
February 16
Andy Horton - Forward - Beloit College
Senior - Janesville, Wis./Parkview
In the final two home games of his career, Horton averaged 29.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game in a 1-1 week.
In Wednesday’s 86-78 double-overtime upset win over Carroll, he led the way with 28 points and 13 rebounds, also
making three steals and blocking two shots. Against Ripon on Saturday, he had 31 points and 12 rebounds. In the
two games he was 18-37 from the field, 2-5 from three-point and 21-22 from the free throw line. He ranks seventh all-time in career scoring going into his final game on Wednesday at Lawrence.
February 23 - (Co-players)
John Grotberg - Guard - Grinnell College
Senior - Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer
Grotberg broke the NCAA career record for 3-pointers, regardless of level, when he hit four at Monmouth College on Saturday to put his all-time total at 517. Grotberg, who also recently set the Pioneer school record for steals in a game with 12, finished with 23 points against Monmouth as Grinnell clinched a share of the Midwest Conference title and hosting rights for the league’s postseason tournament.
Jayce Apelgren - Guard - Lawrence University
Senior - Waterford, Wis./Waterford
Faced with two must-win games to claim a share of the Midwest Conference championship, Apelgren averaged 22 points while shooting 75 percent from the floor. He also averaged 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. In a 92-68 win over Beloit, Apelgren scored 16 points while hitting 6 of 9 shots from the floor. He followed that with a career-high 28 points on 9 of 11 shooting from the floor in a 97-75 win at Ripon. In the two games, Apelgren also connected on all 10 of his free-throw attempts and was 4 of 7 on 3-pointers. The two victories gave Lawrence its second straight conference title and fifth in six years.