KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bobby Hunter of Oregon Tech has been named the first NAIA National Division II Men’s Basketball Player of the Week of the 2011-12 season, the national office announced Tuesday. Hunter was selected based on his performances from Dec. 26 – Jan. 1 and was chosen out of a pool of conference/independent/unaffiliated groupings.
Hunter exploded for back-to-back 30-point efforts in a pair of Cascade Collegiate Conference games last week. Despite the 85-75 loss to No. 17 Warner Pacific (Ore.) on Dec. 29, the 5-8 freshman guard hit 10 of 14 shots to post 30 points. He added six rebounds, three steals and a trio of assists. In the 101-87 win over Concordia (Ore.) on Dec. 30, Hunter hit for his third-straight 30-point game with a 10-for-17 shooting effort. He finished with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. For the week, he shot 64.5 percent (20-for-31) from the field and went 9-for-15 from long range (60 percent).
Hunter becomes the first Oregon Tech player since Ryan Fiegi in 2008 to earn NAIA Player of the Week honors.
The native of Reno, Nev., sits fifth in the NAIA in steals per game (2.8) and is 21st in scoring (19.4 ppg). He is riding a streak of 16-straight games of double-digit scoring.