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ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Drake University sophomore Garrett Sturtz has been named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Bench Team, the league announced Wednesday.
Sturtz, a sophomore from Newton, earned the honor after becoming one of the league’s most efficient players off the bench this season.
He started the first five games of the season before moving to the bench for a more productive role and averaged 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in league play. Over the entire season, he was second on the team and 10th in the league in rebounding with 5.7 boards per game.
He is shooting 65.6 percent from the field this year and 36.4 percent from three-point range. In his last 12 games of the season he shot 77.6 percent and has not missed more than two shots in a game since Jan. 19.
He scored in double figures in eight of the 18 MVC games including a career-high 18 points in Drake’s home win over SIU and 17 points in the road loss at Loyola in which he became one of just 26 players in the nation to record 17 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks or more in a game this season.
Sturtz returns to the court Thursday with the Bulldogs play in the opening round of the MVC Tournament. The eighth-seeded Bulldogs take on No. 9 Illinois State at 6 p.m. in St. Louis’ Enterprise Center.