Alberta's Krikke earns MVC All-Academic honours for second consecutive year

Team Alberta alumni Ben Krikke of the Valparaiso Beacons was named to the Missouri Valley Confernce Scholar-Athlete First Team on Thursday (March 3).

Krikke, who was born and raised in Edmonton where he graduated from Jasper Place high school, owns a 3.59 grade point average in finance and ranked tied for ninth in the conference in scoring average at 14.5 points per game through 27 games. The junior forward is also seventh in the league in field goal percentage at 53.9 and fifth in free-throw percentage at 84.3. He scored in double figures in 21 of his 27 regular-season games including each of the last 11.

Krikke is one of only four players in the MVC shooting above 50 percent from the field and above 80 percent from the free-throw line and owns the highest field-goal percentage and second-highest free-throw percentage among that quartet. During the final 11 games of the regular season, Krikke averaged 15.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

This marks the second straight year that Krikke has achieved MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team honors. Last season, he was also a member of the MVC Most-Improved Team, All-MVC Third Team and CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. Krikke is active in Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).

Krikke was one of only two players in the league to earn MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team status for a second straight season, and is the only Valpo player who has earned MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team status since the school joined the MVC.

Congratulations, Ben!