UM's Cherry, EWU's Colimon Share POTW
PDF of Release
Will Cherry, of The University of Montana, and Cliff Colimon, of Eastern Washington University, have been selected as the co-Big Sky Conference men’s basketball Players of the Week after leading their respective squads to key victories on the final night of the regular season.
Cherry, a 6-foot junior guard from West Oakland, Calif., scored 23 points with four assists, two rebounds, a block and a steal in Montana’s 66-51 win over Weber State on Tuesday. The victory clinched Montana’s first outright regular-season title since 1991-92 and ran the Grizzlies’ winning streak to 12 games. Montana finished the regular season 15-1, clinching the right to host the Big Sky Championship semifinals and championship for the first time since 2000. This is Cherry’s third Player of the Week honor this season, and the fifth on his career.
Cherry made 7-of-14 shots from the floor, and was 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. Twice in the second half when Weber State closed within five points, Cherry answered with baskets. With 8:09 to play, he converted a 3-point play, and with 3:45 to play hit a jumper to extend the lead to seven.
Colimon, a 6-foot senior guard from Brooklyn N.Y., scored a career-high 28 points with four assists and two rebounds as Eastern Washington beat Idaho State 77-64 on Tuesday night to secure the No. 4 seed and a home quarterfinal game in the Big Sky Championship.
Colimon scored 20 points with all four assists in the second half. He finished 8-of-15 from the field, and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. Eastern Washington will take on Idaho State on Saturday in Cheney, Wash., in a quarterfinal game at 2 p.m. Pacific. This is Colimon’s first career Player of the Week honor.
Others Nominated
Chase Grabau, G/F, Idaho State: Scored 15 points with nine rebounds in a loss.
Shawn Reid, G, Montana State: Scored 23 points in a win.
Durrell Norman, F, Northern Arizona: Scored 17 points with nine rebounds in a loss.
Tate Unruh, G, Northern Colorado: Scored 20 points in a loss.
Charles Odum, G, Portland State: Scored 22 points with six rebounds in a win.