BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Parker Applegate and Judson Bjornstad have a lot in common: They’re cousins. They’re both 6’8″ forwards on the Union University men’s basketball team. And on Tuesday, the GSC announced them both as the recipients of the conference’s individual awards–Applegate of Player of the Week and Bjornstad of Freshman of the Week.
The awards, presented by Truist, recognize the best individual performances among the league’s 12 men’s basketball squads from the week of December 30 to January 5. Together, Applegate and Bjornstad represent Union’s first weekly sweep since February 24, 2023, when Boe Nguidjol and Layne Sarver claimed the laurels in their entirety.
Union has accumulated an enormously disproportionate total of 12 Freshman of the Week awards since the beginning of the 2023-24 season. Bjornstad’s three honors this season–all within the last five announcements–join Jordan Pyke’s six, Devaki Garr’s two, and Applegate’s one during the span. A Bulldog last won Player of the Week when Ahmad Johnson took it home on March 5, 2024.
Applegate averaged 22.5 points and 10.5 rebounds over a two-game stretch marked by extraordinary shooting efficiency. He finished 8-9 (.889) from three–including a perfect 5-5 game–9-10 from the line, and 14-17 (.824) from the floor.
In a Thursday night showdown with Alabama-Huntsville, Division II’s #6 team, Applegate had 23 points and 12 rebounds, shot 8-9 from the floor and 2-2 from the line, and recorded a block. He followed this performance with a similar one against West Alabama on Saturday: 22 points, nine boards, 6-8 shooting (3-4 from three), and 7-8 from the line with another swat. All told, he scored 45 points on just 17 field goal attempts, a whopping 2.6 points per heave.
Applegate, a sophomore, averages 12.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He’s shooting .542–an uptick of .120 from last season–and .550 (11-20) from beyond the arc. His rebounding and scoring marks are good for third and 16th in the conference, respectively, while his .869 free throw clip is GSC-fifth.
The Murfreesboro, Tennessee, product has posted three 20-point nights and eight in double-digits through 13 games; his career-high of 26 came against Bethel on November 19. Listed at 210 pounds, he hasn’t collected fewer than five rebounds in any contest this season. Applegate has tallied a career-high 17 rebounds twice in his first two seasons: first against Delta State in January 2024, and again at Drury on November 26.
Bjornstad averaged 5.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists on 5-11 shooting in Union’s games. His stat lines were nearly identical between the outings–six points and four, five rebounds and six, and three assists twice–and, in a way, reflect the freshman’s season. Bjornstad, who averages 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and a team-second 1.8 assists, has scored at least six points in 11 games and corralled five rebounds in nine. His season-scoring high of 17 was just one of Bjornstad’s five double-digit nights thus far, and he pulled down 10 rebounds at Montevallo on December 21. Bjornstad has started all Bulldog games and averages a little under a half-hour per outing.
Bjornstad, Applegate, and the rest of the Bulldogs will look to return to the win column this weekend in matchups at Valdosta State and West Florida. After opening the GSC campaign 3-0, the team has dropped four consecutively–one to a top-ranked opponent, two on the road, and two more in late, heartbreaking fashion. Union will play at home next on January 16 (7:30 p.m.) against Lee and January 18 (4:00 p.m.) against Trevecca at the Fred DeLay Gymnasium, where general admission is free as a courtesy of FirstBank.
