BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – SIUE sophomore guard Donivine Stewart (Peoria, Ill.) has been chosen as the Ohio Valley Conference Co-Newcomer of the Week after leading SIUE to a pair of wins over Southeast Missouri and UT Martin. Stewart shares the award with Murray State's Jarvis Williams.
The award is the first for Stewart, who is playing his first season for the Cougars after transferring from Bradley.
Stewart enjoyed a career week for the Cougars. Thursday he became the first SIUE player this year to collect a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 11 assists. Stewart assisted on a pair of game-tying baskets with less than a minute to play in regulation to send the game into overtime, where the Cougars prevailed 93-88. He added two steals while turning the ball over just twice.
On Saturday against UT Martin, Stewart opened the scoring with a three-pointer 42 seconds into the game and never let up. He connected on his first six shots from the field and finished an efficient 8 of 9 (.889) from the field and 3 of 4 from three-point range for a career-high 24 points. He added eight assists and two steals in the 84-79 win.
Stewart joins Belmont's J.J. Mann and Morehead State's Angelo Warner (Co-Players of the Week) and Murray State's Cameron Payne (Freshman of the Week) as the OVC's weekly award winners.
