SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Western Carolina senior James Sinclair has been named the Southern Conference Player of the Week for all games played Feb. 3-9, while Samford’s Christen Cunningham earned the CRONS Freshman of the Week Award, the league office announced Tuesday (Feb. 10).

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: James Sinclair, Western Carolina, G, Sr., Savannah, Ga.
Western Carolina’s James Sinclair nearly averaged a double-double last week as the senior scored 19.5 points and pulled down 9.5 rebounds per game.  The Savannah, Ga., native posted his second career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds in a 76-72 loss to Samford.  He followed that performance with 21 points and nine rebounds in a 73-70 win over Chattanooga, including a jumper with 35 second left to give the Catamounts a two-point lead (72-70).  The senior picked up five steals, three assists and a block in 75 minutes of action last week.  Sinclair is third in the league with 19.2 points per game.

Other nominees: Ashton Moore (The Citadel), Stephen Croone (Furman), Nicholas Paulos (UNCG), Darius Jones-Gibson (Samford), Justin Tuoyo (Chattanooga) and Karl Cochran (Wofford).

CRONS Freshman of the Week: Christen Cunningham, Samford, G, Georgetown, Ky.
Samford’s Christen Cunningham has been named the CRONS Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this season.  Cunningham averaged 11.5 points, 5.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.0 rebounds in a pair of wins last week for the Bulldogs.  The freshman scored all 12 of his points in the second half of Thursday’s comeback win over Western Carolina (76-72).  He added five assists and four steals against the Catamounts.  In Saturday’s 71-68 win at ETSU, Cunningham tallied 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and a steal.  He currently ranks third in the SoCon with 4.1 assists per game.

Other nominees: Jake Wright (The Citadel), Daniel Fowler (Furman), Marvin Smith (UNCG) and Tucker Thompson (Western Carolina).

SoCon Men’s Basketball Player of the Week
Nov. 18 – James Sinclair, Western Carolina
Nov. 25 – Karl Cochran, Wofford
Dec. 2 – Casey Jones, Chattanooga
Dec. 9 – QJ Peterson, VMI
Dec. 16 – Tevon Saddler, UNCG
Dec. 23 – Tyler Hood, Samford
Jan. 6 – James Sinclair, Western Carolina
Jan. 13 – Mike Brown, Western Carolina
Jan. 20 – Devin Sibley, Furman
Jan. 27 – Karl Cochran, Wofford
Feb. 3 – Casey Jones, Chattanooga
Feb. 10 – James Sinclair, Western Carolina