Southland Conference Chooses Canete as Player of the Week
12/18/2017 12:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Weekly Southland honor is Canete's first as a Lumberjack
Complete Southland Conference Release
FRISCO, Texas - Already the CollegeInsider.com Lou Henson National Player of the Week after his game-changing performance in the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team's Saturday afternoon triumph at LSU, senior guard Ivan Canete found himself on the receiving end of more individual accolades Monday afternoon when the Lake Worth, Fla., product was named the Southland Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his collegiate career.
One of the 'Jacks' three seniors, Canete is the second SFA player this season to earn the title of Southland Conference Player of the Week, joining sophomore Kevon Harris who earned the title twice already this season (Nov. 13 and Dec. 11).
In Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Canete and the 'Jacks matched up with LSU for the first time in program history and Canete provided a multitude of winning moves down the stretch to help the 'Jacks walk out of the Maravich Center with an 83-82 triumph over the Tigers.
As part of his season and game-high 20-point effort, the final year man out of Lake Worth, Fla., scored the last seven points for SFA - including the eventual game-winning layup with 5.9 seconds to go - to help the 'Jacks continue their best start since 2012-13.
Canete shot 8-of-11 (72.7-percent) from the field and connected on four of his five (80-percent) three-point tries while also dishing out four assists in the victory. The 'Jacks' win over LSU also marked the program's first over a current SEC team since 1970 when they defeated Texas A&M 89-82 in College Station, Texas. At that time, the Aggies competed in the Southwest Conference.
With only two games left in their non-conference schedule, the 'Jacks own a Southland Conference-best record of 10-1 and are one of only 18 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams who have amassed 10 or more triumph so far this season. As of this writing, Canete ranks fourth in the Southland Conference in three-point field goal percentage (45.5-percent) and 13th in the 13-team league in steals per game (1.9).
Tuesday night in Columbia, Mo., Canete and the rest of the Lumberjacks will try to build on their 10-1 start when they shoot for a second-straight victory over an SEC adversary when SFA does battle with Missouri at 8:00 p.m. on ESPNU.
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