Baylark, Makakala named Bojangles Athletes of the Week

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum College basketball guards Ronnie Baylark and Benedicta Makakala have been named the Bojangles Athletes of the Week.

Baylark, a 6-2, 180-pound junior from Crestview, Florida, scored a team-high 15 points in Tusculum's 86-83 South Atlantic Conference win at Brevard last Tuesday.  All of his scoring came from beyond the three-point arch as he went 5-of-6 from long range.  He also recorded five rebounds and dished out three assists in his 33 minutes of action against the Tornados.

Baylark is leading the Pioneers in scoring averaging 17.4 points per contest, which is the 10^th-best average in the league.  In his five starts, he is shooting 49.2 percent from the floor, including a sizzling 14-of-25 (56% - 3^rd in SAC)) from three-point land.  The Marion Military Institute transfer is also averaging 4.8 assists (8^th in SAC) and 4.8 rebounds per game.  He is ninth in the conference in free throw percentage, connecting on 83.3 percent from the charity stripe.

Makakala led the Pioneers in points, rebounds, assists and steals in two games last week, setting career highs in points in both contests. In a 74-67 loss at Brevard on Tuesday, she had 11 points and a career-best nine rebounds along with six steals. On Saturday, Makakala registered 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in a 63-58 setback to Virginia-Wise.

The 5-9 native of Stockholm, Sweden averaged 11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 4.0 steals for the Pioneers last week, and currently ranks second on the team in scoring (8.8 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.2 rpg) through the Pioneers' first five games. Makakala also leads the Pioneers with 2.4 assists per game, while her 3.4 steals per game leads the South Atlantic Conference and rank her in the top 25 in NCAA Division II.

The Tusculum College Athlete of the Week Award is sponsored by Bojangles, located at 3240 Andrew Johnson Highway in Greeneville.  The Bojangles Athlete of the Week Award honors one male and one female athlete each week from an in-season sport.

2016-2017 Bojangles Athletes of the Week