BURNSVILLE, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball senior Kenny Byers has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division Player of the Week on Monday following his play in SMSU's 77-73 home victory over the University of Mary on Saturday afternoon.
 
It's the first time Byers has earned the award in his career. It's the third time an SMSU player has earned the award this season with Jake Phipps recording the honor on Nov. 22 and Dec. 20.
 
Byers, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard from Olathe, Kan., scored 22 points on 10 of 16 shooting with a team-high nine rebounds, while adding four assists and two steals in the victory.
 
Byers helped SMSU rally from a one-point halftime deficit with 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting in the second half. His jumper with eight minutes left in the game tied the score at 50 and then less than a minute later his three-point play put the Mustangs in the lead for good at 62-59. UMary would later cut the deficit to 67-64 with four minutes remaining, but Byers answered with a field goal to push the lead back to five points. The Marauders wouldn't go away and later made the score 69-67, but with 2:16 remaining Byers once again came through with a jumper to extend the lead to four points.
 
Through 14 games this season, Byers leads SMSU in scoring (14.8) and ranks second in both rebounding (5.3) and assists (43). He is shooting 44 percent (77 of 177) from the field and 78 percent (50 of 64) from the free throw line.
 
Byers, a 2017 graduate of Olathe North High School, has played in 107 career games with 74 starts and ranks 18^th in team history with 1,107 points.   
 
Southwest Minnesota State, 9-5 overall, 5-4 NSIC, resumes play this Friday with a 5:30 p.m. game at Northern State University.