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Two more head overseas from MPBA, forty overall

By Craig Fata, 05/09/16, 9:45AM CDT

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MVP Houston to play in Bolivia; Lima's Hinton heads to Mexico

 

May 9, 2016

ST. LOUIS – Two Midwest Professional Basketball Association players signed overseas contracts over the weekend, bringing to 40 the number of players that have advanced from the league to foreign or D-League contracts.

Alfonzo Houston of the Pontiac 66ers and Westley Hinton of the Lima Express are the latest to get to the next level after playing in the MPBA.

Houston, a 6’4” guard from the University of North Carolina-Central, left Sunday to play in Bolivia. Houston was named the MPBA Most Valuable Player following the 2016 season, leading the league in scoring at 27.7 points per game during the regular season and upping his output to 35.0 per contest in the playoffs for the top-seeded 66ers. He also averaged 5.3 rebounds per game while playing a team-high 36.4 minutes per game.

“There is nothing he can’t do with a basketball,” said Mark Myre, general manager for the 66ers. “He is one of the best basketball players on and off the floor—a young version of Meadowlark Lemon. His future is very bright and his personality is second to none.”

Westley Hinton joined the Lima Express on February 20, and played six games for head coach Mark Anderson. Hinton will play in Mexico.

Hinton averaged 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 2.3 blocked shots per game in the regular season for Lima, helping the Express reach the playoffs in their first year in the MPBA. He scored eleven points on 3-for-4 shooting from three-point range and pulled down eight rebounds in Lima’s heartbreaking playoff loss to the 66ers.

“Westley Hinton has the ability to knock down threes and play inside,” said Mark Anderson, head coach for the Lima Express. “He creates difficult matchups due to his versatility on offense. He is also a very good teammate and extremely coachable.”

Houston is the fifth 66er to advance from the team, which began play in January of 2016. Hinton is the twelfth member of the Express to head overseas since the team’s inception in 2014, and the 16th player of Anderson’s. Four Express players have moved up since the team joined the MPBA for the 2016 season, and 18 MPBA players overall advanced during the course of the 2016 season.