CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Lesley University men's basketball team swept the weekly North Atlantic Conference (NAC) awards with Tavon Rhodes (Dorchester, Mass.) named the NAC Player and Rookie of the Week, and Malachi Howard (Winter Haven, Fla.) earning NAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. For Rhodes, this is his second weekly NAC award, as he was already named NAC Rookie of the Week, whereas for Howard, this week's honor is the first of his career.
Rhodes had a solid week last week for the Lynx. The freshman guard averaged 21.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.6 steals while shooting 57.1% (24-42) from the field and 52.9% (9-17) from downtown in Lesley's three games. His most notable performance came in a tightly contested loss to Rivier, where he finished with a career-high 31 points on 12-23 shooting and also went 4-8 from three. His 31 points marked the first time since 2021 a first-year student-athlete netted 30 or more points in a game (Gabe McCray, 35 points at UMaine Presque Isle- Nov. 6, 2021).
On the year so far, Rhodes is currently ranked third in the NAC in scoring (17.4 points per game) and is first among all first year students in the conference.
Meanwhile, for Howard, he maintained a strong defensive presence last week for the Lynx as the junior forward averaged 15.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 0.7 blocks in the Lynx's three games. Howard's best performance came in a tough loss at Dean, where he had his first double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds. His double-double also marked the fourth of his career. In a loss against Framingham State, Howard swiped a season-high three steals, along with chipping in 12 points and grabbing five rebounds.
Lesley only has one game this week as the Lynx kick off a seven-game road trip traveling to New England College on Tuesday, November 26, at 7:00 p.m.