CHICAGO (March 1, 2018) – For the second consecutive season, Loyola University Chicago guards Clayton Custer (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest/Iowa State) and Ben Richardson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) have been selected First Team Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete, it was announced today. It has already been quite a week for the former high school teammates, who garnered several other awards, including MVC Player of the Year (Custer) and MVC Defensive Player of the Year (Richardson), among others. Loyola and Drake had two representatives each on the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team.
 
Earlier this week, Custer captured the Larry Bird Trophy as the MVC Player of the Year, giving the Ramblers their first league player of the year, regardless of conference, since 1987 when Andre Moore was tabbed Midwestern Collegiate Conference Player of the Year. The 6-foot-1 redshirt junior enters this weekend's MVC Championship averaging 14.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game, while shooting 54.4 percent (129-for-327) from the field and 46.2 percent (48-for-104) from three-point range. Custer missed five games earlier this season with an ankle injury, but with him in the lineup, Loyola is 23-2 (.920) this season.
 
Off the court, Custer, who last month was named CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-District V, has been a three-time MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week selection, and carries a 3.52 grade-point average as a finance major.
 
Richardson, the 2017-18 MVC Defensive Player of the Year, has contributed 6.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.7 apg and 1.1 spg this season and Loyola is 18-2 with him in the lineup. The 6-foot-3 senior has picked up his play of late and is averaging 10.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.0 apg and 1.0 spg over the last two contests. He has connected on 16 of his last 33 tries (.485) from three-point range and 15 of his last 19 (.789) from the charity stripe.
 
In the classroom, Richardson, also a finance major, sports a 3.41 GPA.
 
Loyola enters the MVC Championship with a 25-5 overall record, its most wins since 1984-85 (27), and its 15 conference wins established a new program standard.
 
The criteria for the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team voting parallels the CoSIDA standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average (4.0 scale). Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution. He must have played in 75 percent of his team's games and voting for the teams in conducted by the league's sports information directors.
 
2018 MVC Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete First Team
Clayton Custer, Loyola
Reed Timmer, Drake
Blake Simmons, Evansville
Ben Richardson, Loyola
Nick McGlynn, Drake
 
2018 MVC Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete Second Team
Nate Kennell, Bradley
Donte Thomas, Bradley
Marcus Bartley, Southern Illinois
Aaron Cook, Southern Illinois
C.J. Rivers, Drake
Graham Woodward, Drake
Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, Bradley
 
2018 MVC Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention
Wyatt Lohuas, UNI
Ted Friedman, UNI
John Kiser, Valparaiso