The Seton Hill Griffins had no problem shaking off the rust of the holiday break as they came back and picked up two sound wins, improving their overall record to 10-3 in the process.
Coming off being named the PSAC men’s athlete of the week on Dec. 23, junior forward Malachi Leonard came to play.
In the Griffins first game back, a 71-58 victory over Kutztown, Leonard posted a double-double of 20 points and 15 rebounds. Of those 15 boards, 14 came on the defensive side. Leonard also added six blocks in the win. The 6-foot-7 forward shot 70 percent from the floor, knocking down 7 of 10, also hitting 6 of 8 from the foul line.
Just a day later, Leonard continued his onslaught, posting another double-double, this time scoring 28 points to go with 11 rebounds. Leonard shot 13 of 19 from the floor in the team’s 99-80 win over Mansfield. The junior came out of the gate in the second half and hit four straight to extend the Griffins lead to 47-36. His play set the tone and Seton Hill would roll on.
After his strong two-game stretch in the new year, Leonard is averaging a double-double for the season with 18.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. His scoring average is good enough for 6th in the PSAC and 2nd in the PSAC West while his 10.5 rebounds per game leads the conference.
For his continued strong performance, Leonard is the Pittsburgh Sporting News player of the week.
Photo Credit: Seton Hill Athletics
