Alex Austin is at it once again.

Eastern’s 6-foot, 4-inch guard has received his fourth Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Week honors.

This puts Austin with more Freshman of the Week awards than any other freshman in the OVC.

Austin scored 16 points in two conference games for the Panthers last week.

He shot 6-of-8 from the field in Eastern’s 93-65 win at Tennessee-Martin last Thursday, and he shot 7-of-10 from the field in Eastern’s 77-64 loss at Southeast Missouri Saturday.

He was 13-of-18 from the field and 4-of-8 from 3-point range for the week, but he credited all of his success to his teammates.

“Without them, I wouldn’t get as many shots,” Austin said. “They get me the ball when I’m open and I try to make the most of it.

Austin totaled three assists, three rebounds and three steals in the two games.

Austin has scored in all 24 games this season — leading all OVC freshmen in scoring with 8.5 points per game.

He is tied for fifth on the Panthers’ roster with 23 minutes per game.

“He is a freshman guy who is being asked to play way more than he should,” head coach Jay Spoonhour said. “He is probably not ready to play 24 minutes a game, but he handles it so well.”

Austin and the Panthers are currently the No. 8 seed in the OVC with four conference games remaining (the top eight teams with the best conference records advance to the OVC Tournament).

Eastern hosts Austin Peay at 7 p.m. Thursday in Lantz Arena.

Anthony Catezone can be reached at 581-2812 or ajcatezone@eiu.edu.