LONG BEACH, Calif. – Freshman Gavin Sykes was named the Big West Player of the Week Monday after leading Long Beach State to a pair of wins that included a stellar scoring performance at CSUN.
Sykes finished with 34 points on the road at CSUN, leading the Beach to an 87-80 victory. That 34-point effort broke a two-way tie with himself and Lucious Harris for the most of any freshman in program history, and was the second 30-point game and 11th 20-point game of the season for Sykes. He also had a season-high two blocks in the contest and had three assists.
Sykes also finished with 16 points and six rebounds in a decisive 88-73 win over UC Riverside on Thursday. Over the two games, Sykes averaged 25.0 points as Long Beach State extended their winning streak to three games overall and five straight in Long Beach.
Sykes is now ranked sixth in the nation in scoring for freshmen at 18.9 points per game, and is second in the Big West in scoring in both all games and in conference play. The freshman is the first award winner for Beach Men’s Basketball this season.
