LowcoSports.com
The inaugural season of USCB basketball came with the usual litany of inevitable “firsts” — but this is one most startup programs have to wait a while to celebrate.
Sand Sharks stars Marcus Overstreet and Janiyah Heyward swept the Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year honors after emerging as the leaders of the first-year Sand Shark programs, a testament to the talent head coaches Ron Fudala and Sharon Versyp were able to attract to the fledgling NCAA Division II program.
A 6-9 center from Chicago, Overstreet averaged 17.6 points and 11 rebounds, while collecting 13 double-doubles in an electrifying debut season in The Cove. Overstreet immediately made his presence known at USCB when he put up 25 points and 17 rebounds on opening day against Morris College, but his most incredible performance came in a four-overtime win against Columbus State in which he played the final four minutes of regulation and all 20 minutes of overtime with four fouls, finishing with 36 points and 25 rebounds.
Heyward, a 5-7 forward out of Savannah’s Woodville-Tompkins High School, led Versyp’s short-handed squad with 13.1 points per game and averaged 6.9 rebounds, adding a versatile weapon to a roster depleted by injuries in the preseason.
With the Sand Sharks looking for a spark on offense, Heyward emerged early in the season as the team’s most consistent scorer, putting up double digits in eight straight games and posting three double-doubles, including a career-best 31 points and 13 rebounds against Regent University.
