A banner weekend concluded with a pair of honors for Valparaiso University men’s basketball freshman Sheldon Edwards (West Palm Beach, Fla. / Palm Beach Lakes [TLAP Sports Academy]) on Monday.

Edwards became the second Valpo player to receive a weekly award from the Missouri Valley Conference this season as he was named the league’s Newcomer of the Week. In addition, the rookie was tabbed the MVC Player of the Week by College Sports Madness.

The Valpo guard helped his team hand No. 25 Drake its first loss of the season on Sunday, a convincing 74-57 triumph that came a day after a narrow 80-77 defeat to the Bulldogs. Edwards averaged 15.5 points per game over the two contests this week to tie for the team lead while knocking down five 3s, swiping five steals, dishing out four assists and pulling down seven rebounds. He hit four triples in Saturday’s matchup to lead the team in scoring, equaling a career high with 20 points.

Edwards followed with his second straight double-figure scoring output by posting 11 on Sunday, when he made his third career start and first since Dec. 1. He was also a factor on the defensive end with three steals to help Valpo hold Drake to a season-low 57 points. In addition, Edwards threw down a thunderous dunk in Sunday’s victory that checked in at No. 7 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays. The Valpo freshman became the first member of the Brown & Gold to earn MVC Newcomer of the Week honors since teammate Donovan Clay did so during the final week of the 2019-20 regular season.

Without much time to bask in the glory of Sunday’s win, which was the fourth over a nationally-ranked opponent in program history and the second under head coach Matt Lottich’s watch, Valpo will be back on the court on Wednesday at 6 p.m. to host Bradley at the Athletics-Recreation Center. The game will be on ESPN3 with links to live coverage available on ValpoAthletics.com.