Tyson Takes Top Honors This Week

URBANA, Ohio (January 22, 2010) - On Tuesday night, Blue Knight big man Justin Tyson (Lumberton, N.C./Flora Macdonald HS/Cape Fear C.C.) came off the bench to lead Urbana in scoring and spark the Blue Knights to a 74-72 win over rival Ohio Dominican University.  Today, Tyson was tabbed the Family Dentistry Student-Athlete of the Week.

The 6-7 junior netted 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting in just 14 minutes of action, and much of his damage was done late in the second half as the Blue Knights began to pull away from their rivals.  He also pulled down 6 rebounds, including 4 on the offensive side of the ball as Urbana's offensive rebounding proved to be the difference.  The Blue Knights grabbed 10 more offensive boards than the Panthers and outscored ODU 24-11 on 2nd chance points. Nine of Tyson's 17 points were 2nd chance points after offensive rebounds. On the season, Tyson is averaging 7 points per game on a team-best 54.2% shooting. He is averaging 5 rebounds per game in just 14 minutes of action. This translates to 13.7 boards per 40 minutes, which currently leads the Blue Knights.

Tyson just narrowly edged teammates Clint Nicholson and Rob Wilson for the award.  Nicholson and Wilson each registered double-doubles in the win at ODU, and Wilson knocked down the game-winning foul shots with 21 seconds to play.  Also considered for this week's award was women's basketball players Ashley Falknor and Unique Lane.