For the first time in his career, Andrew Batiuk (Soph., Tualatin, Ore.) has been honored as the Northwest Conference Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week, as announced Tuesday by the league’s sports information directors.

Batiuk scored 19, 23 and 28 points in Linfield’s three most recent games, an average of 23.3 points per outing. In the Wildcats’ 82-72 overtime victory over Northwest Christian, he poured in a game-high 28 points on 12-for-22 shooting from the floor while also hauling in 10 rebounds. It was his first double-double of the season and the second of his career.

Through eight games this season, Batiuk has averaged a conference-leading 20.6 points per game while shooting at a 49.3 percent clip. The sophomore leads the team in rebounds (7.3 per game), total steals (17), total blocks (nine) and has knocked down a team-high 12 long-range buckets. Batiuk has hit double digits in the scoring column in all eight games, surpassing the 20-point plateau three times and topping out at 33 points (against Menlo).

With two games played within the Northwest Conference, Linfield sits fifth in the team standings at 1-1 against league foes and 2-6 overall.

NEXT: Linfield plays its final home game of the 2012 calendar year when it plays host to Montana State University-Northern next Friday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m in Ted Wilson Gymnasium.