Threepeat! Zitani Selected For NWC Honors For Third Time
FOREST GROVE – For the second time in a row and the third time this season, the Northwest Conference has singled out forward
Daniel Zitani (Sr., Oakland, Calif.) as the league's Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week. The honor, as selected by the conference's sports information directors, was announced on Monday night.
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Zitani led Pacific to their 71-70 overtime victory over Occidental last Tuesday night with his third double-double in three games on the Boxers' three-game Southern California road trip. He scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with two assists and three blocks.
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His biggest contribution to the win, however, came at the end of regulation as he blocked a lay-in by Occidental's Andrew Johnson to force overtime and setting the Boxers' up for the victory. Zitani led the Boxers to a sweep of their three-game road trip and to a five-game win streak, the team's longest since the 1999-2000 season.
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"Daniel continues to play at a very high level," said Pacific Head Men's Basketball Coach
Tim Cleary. "I think that is because he is in harmony with his teammates, there is a very good balance that makes it difficult for teams to guard him. The thing that is most impressive about his performance to date, however, is his focus. You can see in his body language that he is locked in and therefore has been able to play to his talents."
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This is the third time this season that Zitani has been honored as the NWC Student-Athlete of the Week. He was selected last week to NWC honors as well as the D3Hoops.com Team of the Week for his double-doubles in the opening victories of the Southern California road trip over Pomona-Pitzer and Pacifica. He was also selected in the first week of the season for averaging 20.7 points in three games in the Boxers' first road trip to the Southland.
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Zitani has led the Boxers to an impressive 6-2 start with some impressive numbers. He currently leads the NWC in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 21.6 points and nine rebounds per game. He also leads the NWC in points (173), offensive rebounds (28), defensive rebounds (44), total rebounds (72), field goals made (62) and free throws made (47). In addition, Zitani enters the week ranked second in blocks (11), third in minutes per game (32.1) and sixth in field goal percentage (.539).
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Pacific returns to action on Sunday, closing out their non-conference schedule with a home game against UC Santa Cruz. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
