Bradley University Athletics

Trio Earns MVC Scholar-Athlete Honors

Men's Basketball 3/1/2018 10:00:00 AM

Three members of the Bradley basketball team were honored for their work on and off the court on Thursday as senior Donte Thomas, junior Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye and sophomore Nate Kennell were all named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Second Team.

Bradley featured the second-most honorees on the teams with the three selections matching a school record – BU also had three student-athletes earn the accolade in 1996-97 and 2011-12.

Thomas was also named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference Second Team earlier in the week, averaging 11.6 points and 7.1 rebounds during his senior campaign. In conference games only, Thomas ranks 11th with 13.8 points, second in boards with 8.1, fourth in field goal percentage at 55.6, seventh in free throw percentage at 76.4 and seventh with 1.1 blocks. The forward scored in double figures in 15-of-18 MVC contests, leading Bradley in scoring nine times this year and in boards on 17 occasions. Majoring in social work, Thomas owns a 3.22 grade point average.

Named to the MVC All-Defensive Team, Lautier-Ogunleye anchored the nation's 24th-ranked scoring defense and the league's top field goal percentage defense during the 2017-18 campaign. Drawing the assignment of the opposing team's perimeter player throughout the year, Lautier-Ogunleye was the only Brave to start all 31 contests with 7.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists. The junior is majoring in marketing with a 3.20 GPA.

Kennell completed the trio of honors for Bradley after posting a 3.56 GPA in management information systems. The sophomore ranks third on the team with 9.3 points per game – a 3.6 point improvement from his rookie season – while leading the Braves with 66 3-pointers. Kennell's 66 triples are the most by a Brave since the 2010-11 campaign, while his 2.13 3-pointers per game rank fifth in the MVC.

The trio helped Bradley earned a top-five seed for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the first time since 2010 with its 19 victories the most in a regular season since the 2006-07 campaign. The Braves now turn their attention toward the postseason with BU opening the 2018 State Farm MVC Tournament on Friday against Drake with tipoff set for 2:30 p.m.

Print Friendly Version