Senior guard Aubrey McRae (Augusta, Ga.) has been named the Peach Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week following a tremendous performance last week as announced by the league on Monday, February 4.
McRae produced the best week of his career, averaging 28.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting an unbelievable .727 (8-of-11) from three-point range. He also shot .680 (17-of-25) from the field overall and .778 (14-of-18) at the foul line.
The Laker sharpshooter would open the week against Georgia Southwestern (1/30) with the best game of his career. In 34 minutes he dropped a career-high 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, 5-of-7 beyond the arc and 7-of-10 at the charity stripe. On top of his offensive exploits, McRae added seven boards, three assists and three steals in a 98-75 victory.
He wouldn’t be far off next time out when Clayton State closed out the week at rival Columbus State (2/2). In 33 minutes he went 8-of-12, knocking down three of four triples, on his way to 26 points and added six more caroms, two assists and a steal. That performance also topped his previous career-high of 25 points entering the week and led to a 90-81 victory at Columbus.
It was the program’s sixth straight win over the Cougars, extending the longest in team history, and the first time they had won three straight on the road in the series.
On the year he is averaging 14.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting .429 from the field, .403 from three-point range and .812 from the line.
“We are extremely proud of Aubrey to receive this honor,” said head coach Jimmy Link. “He has worked really hard and this week has played the best he has played all year! It’s nice to see that effort recognized by the league.”
McRae’s selection is the first this season by a Laker and is also the first for the program since the 2015-16 season when Alfonso Davis won the award on January 18, 2016. Overall, Clayton State has had 13 selections since Corey Johnson earned the award during the 1996-97 season, which was just the second year as a provisional member of the PBC.
Those selections have also been spread out among just 10 players in that 22-year span. Robert Conley holds the all-time mark with three selections over the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons and his two selections in the latter mark just one of two times the Lakers have had multiple honorees. They have had at least one player chosen for the award in 11 of those seasons.
McRae and the Lakers are back in action on Wednesday, February 6 when they host Young Harris. Game time is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. at The Loch following the conclusion of the women’s contest.