Sports briefs

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Toolson Earns Second Weekly Award

Utah Valley’s Ryan Toolson was named the Great West Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 30, the league office announced Tuesday.

Toolson earns his second weekly honor in three weeks as the senior averaged 29.5 points a game last week. In a 82-75 win over Montana, Toolson netted 38 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field (including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc) and a near-perfect 14-of-15 from the free throw line. In a tough 73-66 loss at Binghamton, the 6-foot-4 guard scored 21 points (7-for-14 from the field) with four assists. For the week, Toolson averaged 58.6 percent from the field, 75 percent from three-point range and 94.4 percent from the charity stripe while improving his scoring average to 27.4 points per game – which currently ranks third in the country.

“Ryan has gotten off to a great early season start,” UVU head coach Dick Hunsaker said. “He has been the catalyst of our success.”

Student Athletes Collect Over 5,000 Cans of Food

Utah Valley University student athletes raised 5,251 cans of food to donate to local food banks and an orphanage during the four-week UVU Student Athlete Canned Food Drive that ended Dec. 1.

The Utah Valley wrestling team donated the most cans with an impressive total of 2,362 led by Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative Ramsey Nijem. The track and cross-country teams combined to finish with 2,464 donated cans.

“I think a lot of our guys,” UVU head wrestling coach Greg Williams said. “They love to be involved and love to have opportunities such as this one to give a little back to the community. I am really proud of our team for donating so much, especially with how the economy is and with so many people in need this year. It truly says a lot about the character of our team, and they had a lot of fun doing it.”

With the victory, the wrestling team will receive points towards the Green Award, which will be given to the individual team that wins the most service and support competitions throughout the 2008-09 school year.