Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball picks up specialty teams honors
03/02/2016 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Southern Illinois University men's basketball players Leo Vincent and Bola Olaniyan both picked up Missouri Valley Conference specialty teams honors on Wednesday.
Vincent, a junior guard, was named to the All-Bench team. He came off the bench in 31 games and was the teams fourth-leading scorer with 8.2 points. Against Indiana State on Jan. 20, he became the first Saluki guard other than Anthony Beane to reach 20 points since Desmar Jackson in 2014. He had 24 points and made the game-winning 3-pointer with 24 seconds left.
Olaniyan, a junior center, was selected for the Most-Improved team. He started 25 games and ranks No. 64 in the nation in rebounding (8.9) and No. 60 in offensive rebounding (3.07). He has grabbed double-digit rebounds 12 times this season, including three-straight double-doubles from Feb. 13-20.
Anton Grady of Wichita State and MiKyle McIntosh of Illinois State headline the list of selections for the 2016 MVC specialty teams for men's basketball. Grady, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, was tabbed the conference's Team Captain for the All-Bench Team, while McIntosh, a native of Pickering, Ontario/Canada, is the league's Team Captain for the Most-Improved Team.
The teams, which were selected by the league's newspaper beat writers, are comprised of a minimum of five student-athletes (top five vote-getters, plus ties) on each squad.
2016 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE ALL-BENCH TEAM
Nick Banyard, Illinois State, Jr., F
# Mislav Brzoja, Evansville, Jr., G
Klint Carlson, UNI, So., F
* Anton Grady, Wichita State, Sr., F
Markis McDuffie, Wichita State, Fr., F
Leo Vincent, Southern Illinois, Jr., G
2016 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MOST-IMPROVED TEAM
Jaylon Brown, Evansville, Jr., G
Chris Kendrix, Missouri State, So., G/F
Bennett Koch, UNI, So., F
*MiKyle McIntosh, Illinois State, So., F
Bola Olaniyan, Southern Illinois, Jr., C
Donte Thomas, Bradley, So., F
*--indicates team captain
#--named Tuesday as league's "Sixth Man of the Year" by all-conference voting panel
