TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (March 10, 2015) – The Florida College System Activities Association (FCSAA) has released its final Men’s and Women’s Basketball Player of the Week selections for the 2014-15 season.
Northwest Florida State College’s Benji Bell and Chipola College’s Evelyn Akhator is the men’s and women’s player of the week, respectively. Both Bell and Akhator were named most valuable player of their respective state tournament last weekend.
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NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA Men’s Basketball Player of the Week
Benji Bell, Northwest Florida State
Sophomore – Guard
Gainesville, Fla.
Northwest Florida State College’s Benji Bell is this week's NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA Men's Basketball Player of the Week. Bell, a sophomore from Gainesville, Fla., averaged 20.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists in three games during the voting period. He was named Most Valuable Player of the NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA State Basketball Tournament, leading Northwest Florida State to the tournament championship and an automatic berth in the NJCAA Tournament. Bell tallied 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting in a quarterfinal victory over Hillsborough then scored 13 points the next night in the semis against Miami Dade. In Saturday’s championship game against nationally-ranked Eastern Florida State, he scored 25 points and recorded three rebounds and three assists in the Raiders’ 76-69 win. For the week, Bell shot 53.8 percent (21-of-39) from the floor, 38.9 percent (7-of-18) on three-pointers and 61.9 percent (13-of-21) from the free throw line.
NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA Women’s Basketball Player of the Week
Evelyn Akhator, Chipola
Sophomore – Forward/Center
Lagos, Nigeria
Chipola College’s Evelyn Akhator is this week's NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA Women's Basketball Player of the Week. Akhator, a sophomore from Lagos, Nigeria, averaged 21.0 points, 21.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.3 blocks in three games during the voting period. She rewrote the FCSAA Tournament record books while leading Chipola to its second straight state championship – and an automatic berth in the NJCAA Tournament – and earning a second consecutive most valuable player trophy at the tournament. Akhator finished with 27 points and a tournament record 29 rebounds against NJCAA No. 3 Northwest Florida State in the championship game. In the two previous games, she recorded 12 rebounds vs. Miami Dade and 24 vs. NJCAA No. 15 Central Florida, finishing with 65 rebounds in the tournament and 101 in six career tournament games, both new record totals. For the week, she shot 51.1 percent (24-of-47) from the floor, hit her only three-point attempt and made 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) free throw attempts.