NORFOLK, Va., Nov. 26, 2019—Senior forward Cletrell Pope of Bethune-Cookman University has continued his superb play of the young basketball season, capturing both MEAC Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week honors, the latter for a third straight week. The MEAC Rookie of the Week honor, meanwhile, was tabbed by freshman guard Da’Shawn Phillip of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
Pope (F, 6-9, Sr., Northport, Ala.) led the Wildcats to a perfect 3-0 week, including victories over Incarnate Word (83-58), Eastern Illinois (66-63) and St. Francis Illinois (74-70). He averaged 16.0 points and 12.7 rebounds, including double-doubles in all three contests. Pope’s top outing came against St. Francis Illinois, when he netted 22 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, blocked three shots, made two steals and dished out three assists. He connected on 70.1 percent of his shots from the floor, connecting on 17 of 24 attempts.
 
Phillip (G, 6-5, Fr., Baltimore, Md.) had a solid week for the Hawks, averaging 8.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals against the likes of Stanford and Oklahoma. He had nine points, three rebounds and four steals against the Sooners.
 
Other Top Performers
Karmar McKnight (CSU) led the Eagles to a 68-88 victory over Cornell, scoring 22 points while grabbling four rebounds.  For the week, he averaged 15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
 
John Crosby (DSU) scored 23 points and grabbed four rebounds against Charleston Southern in a week that saw him post averages of 17.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
 
Troy Baxter (MSU) averaged 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds as the Bears went 1-3 during the week.  He had a banner game in a triple overtime loss to Evansville (115-112), scoring 30 points with 10 rebounds.
 
Ronald Jackson (NCAT) averaged 13.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in a week that saw the Aggies notch a 66-64 win over Nicholls, while falling to North Texas (80-60) and Eastern Michigan (58-54).
 
Fred Cleveland (NCAT), in his lone game of the week, scored 11 points, made three steals and handed out two assists in a 58-54 loss to Eastern Michigan.
 
Jibri Blount (NCCU) averaged 21.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists against Youngstown State and Bluefield State. In the 68-44 win over Bluefield State, Blount totaled 28 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
 
Jermaine Bishop (NSU) averaged 19.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists as the Spartans fell to Bradley and Northwestern.