Bellarmine University junior guard Rusty Troutman has garnered the first Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week honors for the 2015-16 men’s basketball season, it was announced by the league office Monday. 

Troutman strung together back-to-back career highs in leading the Knights to a pair of highly respected in-region opponents on Saturday and Sunday. 
 
In Saturday’s 89-79 victory over Northwood, the Mt. Washington, Kentucky native hit 7-of-11 from the field and drained 11-of-12 from the free-throw line for a career-high 27 points.  The next night out, the 6-5 guard eclipsed that performance by pouring in 29 points while hitting 75 percent of his 12 shots in the Knights’ 93-81 home win against Saginaw Valley State.  In that victory, Troutman also posted four rebounds, three assists and three steals.  
 
On the week, he averaged 28 points a game, while hitting 69.6 percent of his shots, including going 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.  He also sank 18 of his 22 free-throw attempts (81.8 percent) and averaged 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds a contest while turning the ball over a total of just three times.  He also had solid defensive numbers with three steals and blocked shot.
 
Troutman earns his first career weekly selection and he is the first for a Knight since Chris Whitehead was honored on Feb. 16, 2015.