SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — As just announced by the WCC, Mitchell Saxen has been honored as the conference's player of the week. Saxen was an unstoppable force in the Gaels 69-67 double OT victory over UNLV. Saxen is the first Gael to win WCC Player of the Week honors this season. It is his second time winning WCC Player of the Week for his career. 

Saxen hit the game-winning shot in the Gaels double-OT thriller against UNLV, however, his contributions to the win were so much more than just that bucket. Saxen was the driving force on offense for the Gaels in a contest where neither team seemed to be able to remove the lid on the basket. Scoring a career-high 23 points, Saxen converted on 8-13 field goal attempts, making him the only player on either side to shoot better than 50% from the field with at least two field goal attempts. Saxen also was consistent at the free throw, where he has struggled for a majority of the season, knocking down 7-10 from the stripe. Playing 43 of 50 minutes, Saxen also bottled up opposing post players, as the Gaels were +24 in the paint against the Runnin' Rebels. If his scoring wasn't enough, Saxen also ripped down a career-high 16 boards, as the Gaels were +35 on the glass tonight, tallying 68 rebounds as a team, just four shy of the program record that has stood since 1965. Most notably, in the second overtime frame, Saxen scored every point for the Gaels, powering them to the victory. 

Saxen and the Gaels will have three home games over the next six days, welcoming Middle Tennessee, Missouri State and Northern Kentucky into UCU Pavilion on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday respectively.