CHICAGO (November 22, 2017) – For the second straight week, Clayton Custer (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest/Iowa State) has been selected as the Missouri Valley Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Week presented by Enterprise Bank and Trust Company, it was announced today. A finance major at Loyola University Chicago, the redshirt junior has earned the award for the fifth time in his career.
 
Custer had a monster week in helping Loyola to two more wins as it improved its record to 4-0 on the season, the program's best start since 2010-11. In two games last week, the 6-foot-1 guard averaged 19.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game, while shooting a staggering 61.1 percent (11-for-18) from the field, 44.4 percent (4-for-9) from three-point range, and 100 percent (12-for-12) from the free throw stripe.
 
Playing in front of his hometown crowd, the Overland Park, Kansas native poured in 20 points, including 11 in a row at one point in the second half, to rally Loyola from an eight-point deficit to earn a 66-56 victory at UMKC on November 16. He followed that up with 18 points, a career-high nine assists, and no turnovers, in an 88-67 decision over Samford on November 19 as the Ramblers won their 12^th straight home game versus a non-conference opponent.
 
For the season, Custer is averaging a team-best 15.5 ppg, and shares the team lead with 3.8 apg, while draining 55.6 percent (20-for-36) of his field goal tries and 85 percent (17-for-20) of his foul shots.
 
Custer has been lauded for his achievements in the classroom throughout his Loyola career, earning MVC First Team Scholar-Athlete and I-AAA Scholar-Athlete Team recognition in 2016-17.
 
To qualify for MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors, student-athletes must carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20, completed at least one academic year at a Valley institution and must be at least a sophomore in academic standing.
 
Loyola is back in action Friday afternoon when it battles UNC Wilmington at 4 p.m. Central in the Savannah Invitational.