Council named Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week

Courtesy of GoBonnies.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. – St. Bonaventure men’s basketball senior Melvin Council Jr. has earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors after an outstanding start to conference play.

Council proved to be key in Bona’s 2-0 open to Atlantic 10 action as he averaged 22.0 points, 6.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game in a pair of wins by the Bonnies this past week.

In a victory over the preseason A-10 conference favorite VCU, he delivered the game-winning layup with 3.3 seconds remaining to push the Bonnies to a 77-75 win Dec. 31 at the Reilly Center. His late-game heroics put the exclamation mark on a 20-point performance to go along with eight rebounds and four assists.

He continued his strong play as he poured in 24 points to go along with a career-high eight assists and five steals in a victory Saturday at Fordham. He is the only player to score over 23 points along with eight or more assists and five or more steals in a regulation Division I game this season.

The Rochester native shot over 51 percent from the floor during the week and played every possible second of game action.

In five games since taking over the point guard duties in the absence of starter Dasonte Bowen due to injury, Council has averaged 19.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.6 steals per contest while shooting 50 percent from the floor and recording a 3.3 assist-to-turnover ratio in 38 minutes per game.

The Bonnies (14-1, 2-0 A-10) are back in action Wednesday night at Saint Louis.