BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky University true freshman point guard Asante Gist has been voted the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week for men's basketball, the league office announced on Monday.
 
Gist is the first freshman to be named OVC Player of the Week since Eastern Illinois' Cornell Johnston on January 19, 2015.
 
Gist was also voted OVC Freshman of the Week for the third time this season.
 
The native of East Orange, New Jersey averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds-per-game for the Colonels last week. He exploded for a career-high 24 points and a career-high six assists to lead EKU to a come-from-behind 80-76 road win at Jacksonville on Wednesday night. Gist scored EKU's final five points, including two free throws with six seconds on the clock to ice the victory.
 
On Saturday, Gist led EKU again with 19 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals, as the Colonels nearly pulled off another road win, falling at Ball State, 91-86, in overtime.
 
Gist now ranks 12^th in the conference in scoring at 14.4 points-per-game. He leads all OVC freshmen in scoring, assists (3.9 assists-per-game), assist/turnover ratio (1.0) and minutes-per-game (28.8).
 
Gist currently ranks 11^th out of all freshmen in the country in total points (158). He is the second Colonel to be named OVC Player of the Week this season, joining sophomore forward Nick Mayo (November 28).
 
Gist and the Colonels have this week off for final exams, before taking on No. 11 Louisville at the Yum! Center on Saturday, December 17, at 12:00 p.m.