KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced its fourth Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week, presented by
Shift Group, for the 2023-24 season.
MIAA Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week – Bennett Stirtz, Northwest Missouri
Bennett Stirtz averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals in leading Northwest Missouri to a 2-0 start to MIAA play. Stirtz buried 17-of-18 free throws (94.4 percent) in the two games. The sophomore guard put up 17 points, five assists and had a steal in the Bearcats 78-74 win over Missouri Southern. Stirtz connected on 9-of-10 free throws, including 8-of-8 in the second half against the Lions. Stirtz collected his fifth career 20-point scoring game with a 23-point performance in Northwest’s 77-67 win over Pittsburg State. He dished out five assists and collected three steals as he played all 40 minutes of the 10-point victory against the Gorillas. Stirtz made all eight of his free throw attempts, including six in the second half. Stirtz has scored in double figures of all seven of Northwest’s games this season. He leads the Bearcats in scoring this season at 18.7 points per game.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Mike Quick Jr. – Central Oklahoma
Mike Quick Jr. led No. 3-ranked Central Oklahoma to a pair of MIAA wins to start the season. The sophomore guard and sixth man averaged 15.5 points per game this week as the Bronchos beat previously unbeaten Central Missouri and previously unbeaten Lincoln. Quick Jr. scored a team-high 19 in the win over UCM and a team-high 12 in the win over Lincoln. He was nearly perfect for the week, hitting 12-of-14 shots for a 85.7 percent mark that included a 5-for-7 record from behind the 3-point line. Quick Jr. also averaged 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 1.0 steal per game.
Zion Swader – Missouri Western
Zion Swader was a consistent force on offense in Missouri Westerns perfect start to MIAA play. The Griffon junior contributed 14 points in MWSU’s 85-75 win over Pittsburg State, shooting 75.0 percent from the field while making 7-of-8 shots at the free-throw line. Swader then scored another 14 points in MWSU’s win over Missouri Southern, this time shooting 50.0 percent from the field. Making 2-of-5 shots from deep, Swader drained a buzzer-beating three to officially eliminate a 10-point deficit, giving the Griffons a 62-61 win.
Owen Long – Emporia State
Owen Long scored a game high 22 points, including a go ahead four point play, in the final minute of No. 21 ranked Emporia State’s 71-69 MIAA opening win over Washburn. In a game that saw six ties and 12 lead changes, Long gave ESU the lead three times in the final eight minutes including a four-point play that proved to be the game winner. With Washburn leading 69-66, Long hit a three-point play from the top of the arc and was fouled with 40.5 seconds left. He hit the free throw to give the Hornets a 70-69 lead. The win was Emporia State’s seventh in a row this year and their third straight over Washburn.
ALSO NOMINATED
Max Alexander (Pittsburg State), Tim Jordan Jr. (Central Missouri), Kaleb Hammeke (Fort Hays State), Rodney Battle (Rogers State), Sean Evans (Fort Hays State)
ABOUT SHIFT GROUP
Shift Group is a training and recruiting platform placing talented, retired collegiate and professional athletes in high caliber Software Sales positions. Athletes spend their lives engaging in team-based activities where they are rewarded for performance-based outcomes. Competitive drive, work ethic, and the desire to win are innate qualities of those performing at elite levels. Athletes at this level must have discipline, resilience, and grit. These are the intangible parts of any elite athlete’s identity. When combined with confidence, curiosity, and coachability, these traits separate great athletes – and great salespeople. Salesmanship can be taught. It requires the right attitude, habits, and skills – learned, practiced, and repeated in the right environment in order to be mastered. Once an athlete finishes Shift Group training, they get access to hiring managers at Startups, Fortune 500’s, and other organizations building out sales teams across the globe – with the Shift Group team coaching them through every step of the process.
2023-24 MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
WEEK ONE: Jaden Wells, Central Oklahoma
WEEK TWO: Wes Dreamer, Northwest Missouri
WEEK THREE: Alijah Comithier, Emporia State
WEEK FOUR: Bennett Stirtz, Northwest Missouri