Bender captured his second straight Athlete of the Week award after another outstanding performance to lead the Pioneer men's hoops team. The senior guard was the squad's leading scorer in both games this past week, as East Bay fell last Thursday to a very good Cal State Marcos team, 93-78, before blowing out Cal State Monterey Bay, 76-54, in Seaside on Saturday evening.
Bender scored 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting against the Cougars and dished out a season-high five assists despite the loss. He scored 15 again against the Otters, adding five rebounds and a team-best four assists to finish the week with averages of 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists. He was impressively efficient as well, shooting 50 percent from the field (9-18), 66.7 percent from three-point range (4-6), and 88.9 percent from the foul line (8-9).
