December 13, 2010
San Antonio – Off-balance, game-winning 3-pointers that close out triple overtime tend to grab people’s attention.
That was certainly the case Monday, as St. Mary’s sophomore point guard Josh Orta was named the Heartland Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, the league announced.
Orta drained a last-second, turnaround 3-pointer from five feet past the arc to spur the Rattlers to a 103-100 victory in triple overtime at Angelo State University last week. He also recorded 10 assists in the game.
The Stevens High School graduate followed up that performance with an 11-assist showing against Dallas Christian College three days later on the Rattlers’ home court, registering the fourth-most assists in school history.
Orta, in his first season with the Rattlers after transferring from South Plains Junior College, is the conference’s assists leader with 66 (6.6 per game) this season. He has 20 more dimes than the second-ranked player on the list.
He also ranks third in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.0 points per game. Teammate Kevin Kotzur (So., La Vernia) leads the Heartland with 18.1 points per game.
Orta is the second Rattler men’s basketball player to receiver Player of the Week honors, as Lamb Autrey was named Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 6.