Canisius College men's basketball player Billy Baron was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday, the MAAC office announced. This marks the second time this season where Baron has been honored as the MAAC Player of the Week - he was also recognized for his play Dec. 10. He is the third league player to earn this honor multiple times this season, joining Fairfield's Derek Needham and Iona's Lamont Jones.

Baron averaged 19.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and a steal per game last week as the Golden Griffins closed out their run in the Chevrolet Gotham Classic with games against Alcorn State and Detroit. In the team's home win over Alcorn State Dec. 27, Canisius' sixth-straight home win dating back to last year, the 6-foot-2 guard scored 19 points and dished out five assists to go with four rebounds. In the team's loss at Detroit Dec. 30, Baron scored a team-high 20 points, matched a career-high with eight rebounds. He also dished out seven assists, the 10th time this season where he's been credited with five or more assists in a game.

For the week, Baron shot 40.7 percent from the floor, 38.5 percent from 3-point land and 85.7 percent from the free-throw line, highlighted by his 9-for-10 effort from the charity stripe in the Griffs' victory over Alcorn State. Baron leads the team with his 17.8 points per game scoring average, which ranks fourth in the MAAC, and his 5.5 assists per game ranks second-best in the conference. The MAAC's leader assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.2, Baron ranks in the top-100 nationally in four different offensive categories in the latest NCAA rankings.

Canisius is 9-4 on the season after falling to Detroit. The Griffs will return home Thursday, Jan. 3, when the Blue and Gold hosts Fairfield in the Koessler Athletic Center, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. Canisius is 2-0 in league play after winning on the road at Fairfield and Marist earlier this season.