For the third time this season, Sam Houston State center Gilberto Clavell was named the Southland Conference men’s basketball player of the week, the league office announced Monday.
Clavell averaged 20.5 points and helped the Bearkats to a pair of victories last week and keep them perfect in conference play.
The junior from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, posted his second 30-point performance of the season, going 13-for-17 in 90-74 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus; Christi last Saturday, three days after he scored and 11 points in road victory at Nicholls.
Clavell is averaging 16.2 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game to lead the Bearkats. The transfer from Collin County Community College has made an immediate impact for the Bearkats this season. He ranks fourth in scoring in the Southland Conference and leads Sam Houston in rebounding. He averaged 16.1 points on a 27-5 team at Collin County last year.
Sam Houston, which is 18-5 overall and, at 10-0 in conference play, has already secured a berth in next month’s conference tournament in Katy. The Bearkats lead the Southland by two and a half games with six games remaining.
Clavell was previously recognized as player of the week Dec. 21 after scoring 34 points in 107-89 victory at Auburn (Sam Houston’s first victory over a Southeastern Conference foe), and on Jan. 11 after totaling 21 points and 12 rebounds in a 66-57 victory over defending Southland champion SFA.
The Bearkats’ 10-game winning streak is the team’s longest since the 2003 conference champion Bearkats also won 10 in a row.
Sam Houston holds a three-game lead over second place Stephen F. Austin and A&M-Corpus; Christi with six games to go, looking for their third Southland regular season title since 2000. The Bearkats are the only team in the league that already has clinched a Southland Tournament berth.
The Kats face Southland Conference road games at Lamar and UTSA this weekend before returning home Feb. 24 to face McNeese State.
