BOSTON — Graduate student Malik Ellison from the Hartford men's basketball team was named the America East Player of the Week, the organization announced on Monday. 
 
Ellison becomes the first Hawk to take home Player of the Week honors, and the fourth player to earn a weekly award from the America East this season. With this latest award, the Hawks have been recognized by the league seven times in 2019-20, as Moses Flowers (3), Miroslav Stafl (2) and PJ Henry have combined for a program-record six Rookie of the Week honors.
 
A native of Voorhees, N.J., Ellison put together two impressive outings to help the Hawks to a 1-1 record last week. He averaged 20.5 points on 58 percent shooting from the field (18-of-31), adding 13.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per contest.
 
Ellison jump-started his week by scoring a team-high 18 points and adding a career-high 19 rebounds to help the Hawks complete the regular-season sweep of UAlbany with a 66-60 win inside Reich Family Pavilion on Wednesday. Three days later, the combo guard/forward registered 23 points and seven rebounds in a 74-67 home defeat to UMass Lowell.
 
Ellison has been sensational since joining the Hawks' lineup following a preseason injury. He is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double, as he leads the way in rebounds (10.4 rebounds per game) and is No. 4 in scoring (17.8 points per game). He's also listed in the league's top-10 in field-goal percentage (.508) and blocks per game (1.2), ranking No. 1 and No. 4, respectively.
 
Ellison and the Hawks are on the road for their next three games, including a pair this week. Hartford looks to complete the regular-season sweep of both New Hampshire and Binghamton with dates on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.