GANSEVOORT, N.Y. - Brett Gifford (Cazenovia, N.Y. / Cazenovia) has been chosen as the NEAC Men's Lacrosse Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week after a strong set of performances for the SUNY Institute of Technology Wildcats.  The junior defender posted 14 groundballs and nine caused turnovers during a 1-1 week for the Wildcats, while also adding six points on three goals and three assists.  Gifford led SUNYIT to a 14-6 conference victory over Wells College with three goals, three assists and six groundballs on Saturday to keep the Wildcats alive in the playoff hunt at 4-2 in conference play as they enter the final week of the regular season.  Gifford also held his own against conference powerhouse Keuka College Wednesday, tallying a game-high six caused turnovers while also matching a contest-most eight groundballs against the first-place Storm (5-0 NEAC, 8-1 Overall).  Gifford has now caused a conference-best 43 turnovers, while also scooping up the second-most groundballs (69).

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Special thanks to Eugenio Mercurio at neacsports.com for the contents of this release. To view the full NEAC Student-Athlete of the Week Press Release, click here.