{"id":36846,"date":"2018-02-08T13:26:24","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T18:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=36846"},"modified":"2018-03-02T09:42:58","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T14:42:58","slug":"royals-athlete-week-maleke-jones-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/royals-athlete-week-maleke-jones-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals Athlete of the Week: Maleke Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eastern Mennonite University senior\u00a0Maleke Jones<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(Charles Town, W.V.\/Washington) has proven himself consistent and confident on the basketball court, and is the Royals Athlete of the Week.<\/p>\n

In two games last week Jones averaged 15.0 points, including 17 points and three assists in\u00a0Saturday’s<\/span><\/span>\u00a0win over Hampden-Sydney. His layup started a key 9-0 run against H-SC in the second half, turning a three-point lead into a 54-42 cushion.<\/p>\n

Heading into the final two weeks of the season, Jones is averaging 13.1 points per game, adding nearly four rebounds and four assists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I’m playing, everything just feels good and I don’t second guess that,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI’ve worked hard this offseason to put up the numbers that I am putting up, and I’m just glad that it is showing. I also feel like how I play determines a lot in our games. I don’t necessarily have to be the one scoring, but if I can still set other people up and play good defense, it definitely helps the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach\u00a0Kirby Dean\u00a0agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest key to Maleke’s success this year has been his ability to stay healthy,\u201d he said. \u201cOver the last two years Maleke has been well on his way to establishing himself as one of the better point guards in the ODAC, only to be derailed by injuries. This year Maleke has stepped up in every facet of the game on the court as well as off the court; we are hopeful that he can finish these last two weeks strong and lead us into the ODAC Tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his collegiate career winding down, Jones sees that in order to for the team to play well through the postseason, the men need to stick together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to continue to lift each other up and continue to push each other in practice,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we do those things, the confidence in each other goes up, the chemistry goes up, and we play better. On top of that, we need to keep getting better defensively and trust each other to make the right plays on offense and I think we will be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

A senior, the point guard has some final advice to underclassmen, and said that it is important to \u201cmake sure the team stays together. Every team goes through losing streaks, but those streaks will show you how strong the team really is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having suffered season-ending injuries in previous seasons at EMU, he added, \u201cPlay every game like it\u2019s your last — because it just might be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones is not the only member of the men\u2019s team closing his time at Eastern Mennonite: so is Coach Dean. Jones said he and his teammates sensed their coach\u2019s resignation, but were still shocked to hear the news that this would be his final season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally thought it was going to be after next year,\u201d said Jones, \u201cso hearing him say this was his last year just shocked us and it felt weird to think about EMU as a whole without Kirby being here.\u00a0I won’t be here next year to play obviously, but I feel like basketball here won’t feel the same without him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones is a psychology major with a pre-law minor. After graduation, he hopes to attend graduate school to become a criminologist.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying basketball for EMU has been nothing short of amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has been a rough journey but it has taught me a lot about myself and other people. At the end of the day, I definitely feel I made the right choice to play at EMU for my college experience.\u00a0 I think this experience has shaped me into an even harder working person, an even more patient person that knows how to bounce back from adversity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eastern Mennonite University senior\u00a0Maleke Jones\u00a0(Charles Town, W.V.\/Washington) has proven himself consistent and confident on the basketball court, and is the Royals Athlete of the Week. In two games last week ... read more about Royals Athlete of the Week: Maleke Jones<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":36849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4522,5603],"tags":[5674],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-36846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mens-basketball","category-psychology","tag-kirby-dean"],"yoast_head":"\nRoyals Athlete of the Week: Maleke Jones - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/royals-athlete-week-maleke-jones-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Royals Athlete of the Week: Maleke Jones - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eastern Mennonite University senior\u00a0Maleke Jones\u00a0(Charles Town, W.V.\/Washington) has proven himself consistent and confident on the basketball court, and is the Royals Athlete of the Week. 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