ST. LOUIS – Drake men's basketball freshman guard Colby Garland earned a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference All-Bench team, the league announced on Tuesday, March 5.
 
Garland has played in 27 games averaging 5.8 points and 2.4 assists in 17.9 minutes per game this season. The Magnolia, Ark., native dished out a career-high five assists on Nov. 21 against Akron in the Cayman Islands Classic. Garland has scored in double figures in his last three games including a career-high 14 Feb. 28 at UIC. In addition to his offensive contributions, Garland has been a lockdown defender for the Bulldogs.

Drake men's basketball as the No. 2 seed will take on the winner of No. 7 Illinois State/No. 10 Evansville in the MVC Tournament quarterfinal at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis on Friday (March 8) at 6 p.m.
 
The remaining All-MVC awards are set to be revealed on Wednesday evening (March 6) at the MVC Men's Basketball awards banquet in St. Louis. 
 

ALL BENCH TEAM
*Xavier Bledson, Indiana State	R-Sr.	Gd.	Gainesville (Ga.) Gainesville High / Lincoln Memorial
Chuck Bailey III, Evansville	Fr.	Gd.	Detroit (Mich.) Hamtramck High
Tanner Cuff, Evansville	Jr.	Fwd.	American Fork (Utah) Salt Lake City CC
Cesare Edwards, Missouri State	Jr.	Fwd.	Hartsville (S.C.) Hartsville High / Xavier
Colby Garland, Drake	Fr.	Gd.	Magnolia (Ark.) Maumelle High
Johnny Kinziger, Illinois State	Fr.	Gd.	De Pere (Wis.) De Pere High
Brian Moore Jr., Murray State	Jr.	Gd.	Harlem (N.Y.) Kingston High / Northeast Oklahoma A&M
MOST-IMPROVED TEAM
*Xavier Johnson, S. Illinois	Gr.	Gd.	Germantown (Md.) Episcopal High / George Mason
Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Belmont	So.	Gd.	Greenville (Tenn.) Greenville High
Darius Hannah, Bradley	Sr.	Fwd.	Milwaukee (Wis.) Milwaukee Academy of Science High
Connor Hickman, Bradley	Jr.	Gd.	Bloomington (Ind.) Bloomington South High
Jayson Kent, Indiana State	Jr.	G/F	Oak Forest (Ill.) Oak Forest High / Bradley
*--indicates team captain