Malone University junior Mitchell Spotleson has been named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week following a pair of outstanding performances against Kentucky Wesleyan and Trevecca Nazarene. The 6'5" forward out of Uniontown, Ohio helped the Pioneers to a 1-1 record, including their first-ever home win in the G-MAC.
 
In a near upset of #15 Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday, Spotleson scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half in which Malone erased a 14-point deficit. He finished the game 8-of-11 from the field and 5-of-7 from three-point range. Two days later, Spotleson scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half and pulled down eight rebounds in a 71-67 triumph over Trevecca in which the Pioneers overcame another double-digit deficit at the half.
 
On the week, Spotleson shot 70% (14-for-20) from the field, 54.5% (6-of-11) from three-point range, and 83.3% (5-of-6) from the free throw line. Across the two games, he averaged 19.5 points, six rebounds, and two assists. On the season, Spotleson is 9th in the G-MAC in scoring (13.1 ppg), 5th in rebounding (6.5 rpg), 4th in field goal percentage (52.3%), and 4th in three-point percentage (42.5%). He is the only player in the conference to rank among the top-10 in each of those four categories.
 
The Pioneers will return to Osborne Hall for two games this week. Malone will welcome Ohio Valley University on Wednesday, February 8th at 7:00 pm before hosting Cedarville University on Saturday, February, 11th at 3:00 pm as part of the Malone Hall of Fame induction ceremony.