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4 Bulldogs, 3 Panthers earn all-MVC

Roman Penn

ST. LOUIS — Four members of the Drake men’s basektball team and three more from Northern Iowa have been honored in the all-Missouri Valley Conference teams.

Drake’s four selections received a total of seven awards, led by conference MVP candidate Roman Penn. Penn, a junior guard, was named first-team all-MVC after averaging 11.2 points and a league-high 5.5 assists per game before his season ended prematurely due to a foot injury.

Penn also finished second behind Loyola’s Cameron Krutwig for the 2021 MVC Larry Bird Trophy, presented annually to the league’s Player of the year. Krutwig received 41 of the 48 first-place votes and totaled 132 points, Penn had 61, Mosley 52 and Tyreke Key of Indiana State had 42.

Drake senior ShanQuan Hemphill was named to the all-MVC second team, the All-Newcomer Team, the All-Defensive Team, and was selected as the league’s Newcomer of the Year. The transfer from Green Bay averaged 14.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Hemphill was joined on the All-Newcomer squad by junior teammate Darnell Brodie, a Seton Hall transfer who averaged 7.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Sophomore guard Joseph Yesufu was chosen as the MVC’s Sixth Man of the Year after a breakout season in which he came off the bench in 24 games before replacing Penn in the starting lineup. Yesufu averaged 11.6 points per game, highlighted by five-straight double-digit performances to close the season.

Northern Iowa redshirt junior Austin Phyfe was picked to the all-MVC third team. Phyfe, a former first-team selection, averaged 13.3 points per game and shot 57.8 percent from the field. The Waverly-Shell Rock native hauled in a team high 8.2 rebounds per contest and finished with 13 blocks in MVC play.

Bowen Born was named the 2021 MVC Freshman of the Year after averaging 11.2 points per game in Valley play. The Norwalk native is the fourth Panther to be named Freshman of the Year following Eric Coleman, Seth Tuttle and AJ Green after starting all 18 Valley games and averaging 31.1 minutes per game.

Born was also named to the MVC All-Freshman Team and the MVC All-Newcomer Team.

Nate Heise earned a spot on the MVC All-Freshman Team after averaging 7.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Heise averaged 32 minutes played per MVC contest.

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