SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference announced its December athletes of the month for men’s and women’s basketball Monday, highlighting excellence among student-athletes during the month.
 
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Malachi Smith, Chattanooga, R-So., G
Chattanooga guard Malachi Smith averaged 16.1 points and 10.9 rebounds per game in December, leading the Mocs to a 7-1 record. The redshirt sophomore from Belleville, Illinois, notched five double-doubles in the month, with his first coming in the form of an 18-point, 13-rebound effort in a win over Middle Tennessee on Dec. 7. He followed that with 18 points and 11 boards in a win over Bellarmine and made it three straight double-doubles with 19 points and 13 rebounds in a win over North Georgia. Smith narrowly missed a fourth straight with 15 points and nine boards in a win over UNC Asheville on Dec. 16, but his steal and pair of free throws in the final seconds sealed the 69-66 win. Three days later, Smith had 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Mocs downed UAB in a meeting of 7-0 squads, with those consecutive outings earning him SoCon Player of the Week presented by GEICO honors. He followed that up with a career-best 29 points and 13 caroms in a win over Tennessee Tech before just missing his eighth double-double of the season with eight points and 10 rebounds in a loss to Furman that snapped Chattanooga’s school-record 9-0 start to the season.
 
Others nominated: Hayden Brown (The Citadel), Ledarrius Brewer (ETSU), Mike Bothwell (Furman), Ross Cummings (Mercer), Isaiah Miller (UNCG), Myron Gordon (Samford), Xavier Cork (Western Carolina) and Storm Murphy (Wofford).
 
 
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Jaron Dougherty, Mercer, Jr., F
Mercer forward Jaron Dougherty recorded a pair of double-doubles and tallied at least 15 points and eight rebounds in all but one contest in December as the native of Buford, Georgia, helped Mercer to a 5-2 record in the span. She led the Bears in scoring in two contests and in rebounding in six of the seven games. Dougherty began the month with 15 points and nine rebounds at Clemson on Dec. 2 and added 11 points and 11 rebounds in just 17 minutes of action against Covenant three days later. The junior, a preseason all-conference selection, scored 22 points and pulled down eight rebounds, shooting 50 percent from the floor, in an overtime win at UAB on Dec. 10 and followed that up with 20 points and 12 rebounds at Alabama, earning SoCon Player of the Week presented by GEICO honors on Dec. 15 for her performance. She closed out the month with 19 points and eight rebounds against South Carolina State, 21 points and eight rebounds at Western Kentucky and 19 points and nine rebounds at UNCW, all wins. She averaged 18.0 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game on the month. Dougherty is 11th nationally in field goals made (68) and 14th in rebounds (89), while leading the league in points per game (17.2) and sitting second in rebounds per game (9.9).
 
Others nominated: Mykia Dowdell (ETSU), Tierra Hodges (Furman), CeCe Crudup (UNCG), Andrea Cournoyer (Samford), Eboni Williams (Chattanooga), Kyla Allison (Western Carolina) and Lilly Hatton (Wofford).
 
 
Southern Conference December Athletes of the Month
Men’s basketball           Malachi Smith, Chattanooga
Women’s basketball      Jaron Dougherty, Mercer