PEORIA, Ill. -- Senior Bobby Jacobs (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) and sophomore Drake Bushong (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) were both named First-Team Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athletes, while junior Zach Jewell (Mapleton, Ill./Limestone/Illinois Central) was an honorable mention Valley Scholar-Athlete according to an announcement by the league office Friday.
 
Bradley had the most First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete selections with Jacobs earning the honor for the second consecutive year and Bushong taking home the award in his first year of eligibility.  The Braves boasted two First-Team Valley Scholar-Athletes for the second straight year and fourth time in program history.  In addition, the honors marked the fifth consecutive year and ninth time in 10 seasons Bradley had at least one First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete honoree.
 
A two-time First-Team All-MVC performer, Bushong is a marketing major with a 3.52 cumulative grade point average.  He finished the 2016-17 season second on the team and 11th in the MVC with a 73.91 stroke average, which ranks sixth among Bradley season marks.  Bushong fired a school season record 34 sub-80 rounds and posted six top-10 finishes, which included medalist honors at the Zach Johnson Invitational in the fall. 
 
Bradley's top finisher in three events, including the MVC Championship (14th), Bushong had a team-best 10 top-20 finishes.  He fired a career-best 68 at the Hoosier Invitational and enters his junior year with the lowest career stroke average in school history at 73.49 per round. 
 
Jacobs is the fifth two-time First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete in program history after garnering first-team honors as a junior and was a CoSIDA Academic All-District V pick in 2015-16.  He received the State Farm MVC Good Neighbor Award last spring.  This season he was selected as the Bradley and MVC Scholar-Athletes of the Week after he tied for second at the season-opening Crusader Collegiate, where he helped Bradley to the team title. 
 
A civil engineering major with a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average, Jacobs posted a 77.15 stroke average in his final season, carding 16 of his 20 rounds in the 70's or better.  He fired a career-best 69 to wrap up the Crusader Collegiate and earned his other top-10 finish at the Bradley Spring Break Invitational, tying for ninth.  Jacobs finished his career with a 78.91 stroke average and his 57 career sub-80 rounds ranks 25th all-time on The Hilltop.
 
One of three individuals on the squad to play all 35 rounds, Jewell was fourth on the team with a 76.14 stroke average in 2016-17.  His average tied for 33rd in the MVC and is 23th among Bradley season marks.  The marketing major with a 3.74 cumulative grade point average, posted five top-10 finishes and placed in the top-20 in six outings. 
 
Jewell had 28 sub-80 rounds and tied the lowest round in school history with a 66 in the final round at the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate in Springfield, Mo., where he also tied the fifth lowest 54-hole score in program history (212).  His career 75.85 stroke average ranks sixth all-time at Bradley. 
 
The criteria for the MVC scholar-athlete team parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for its Academic All-America® program. Nominees must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (4.0 scale), while the student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institutions and must have participated in at least 50 percent of his team's rounds or played at the MVC Championship.