CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - For the first time in his career, Lesley University men's basketball senior forward Malachi Howard (Winter Haven, Fla.) was named to the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) All-Conference Second Team. Meanwhile, teammate Jaxon Miles (Arlington, Texas) earned a spot on the NAC Sportsmanship Team. On the women's side, Bella Terry (El Cajon, Calif.) earned her first NAC All-Conference recognition by being placed on NAC All-Conference Third Team. The Lynx also saw Alawnah Dunda (Fort Ann, N.Y.) placed on the All-Sportsmanship Team for women's basketball.
Howard had a stellar senior year for the Lynx, appearing in 25 games and starting 23. He finished the year with a team-high 378 points (15.5 ppg) and scored in double-figures in 20 contests this year, with eight of those games having 20 or more points. His strongest performance came at Husson University when he finished with 32 points on a 14-20 shooting clip. This year, when the Lynx took on Division I Stonehill College (Dec. 11), Howard finished with 21 points. At the time, he was the only student-athlete to score 20-plus points on the Skyhawks on the year. Howard also achieved a significant career milestone this past season as he recorded his 1,000th career point versus SUNY Cobleskill (Feb. 8). On the year, Howard finished with a career-high five double-doubles.
On the glass, Howard was just as effective as he was scoring. The senior forward brought down a career and team-high 181 rebounds (7.3 rpg). This season, Howard had 21 games with five or more rebounds and he grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in an 88-80 win versus VTSU Lyndon on Feb. 11. Howard was also a key factor on the defensive side of the ball as he finished with a career-high 22 blocks (0.9 bpg) highlighted by a season-high three against VTSU Lyndon (Feb. 11). He also finished with a career-high 27 steals including a career-high six at SUNY Delhi (Dec. 6). For his strong efforts defensively this year, Howard was named the NAC Defensive Player of the Week four times. He was among only two NAC student-athletes earning multiple Defensive Player of the Week honors.
For Miles, being named to the NAC Sportsmanship Team is also a career first for the junior guard. Despite joining the Lynx just this year, the squad felt his impact. He finished the year with career highs in multiple categories, including points (112-4.3 ppg), games played (26) and started (16), rebounds (77-3.0 rpg), steals (29-1.1 spg), assists (0.8 apg), and blocks (five-0.2 bpg). Miles had four games this year where he finished with 10 or more points, including a career-high 16 in a 78-61 win over SUNY Delhi (Feb. 7).
In her lone season with the Lynx, Terry made an impact the whole year by appearing and starting in all 25 games. The junior forward/center led the squad in scoring with 317 points (12.7 ppg) while scoring 150 of those points (11.5 ppg) in NAC play. Terry scored in double figures in 18 games, with three of them being 20+ point outings, which was highlighted by a career-high 21-point performance in a 61-32 win versus SUNY Delhi (Feb. 7). Terry was also tied for 12th in the nation with 14 double-doubles and was just one of three NAC student-athletes to be ranked within the top 15 for double-doubles in the country.
Terry was also a strong rebounder for Lesley this past season as she grabbed a team-high 239 rebounds (9.6 rpg) and 108 (8.3 rpg) of those were in NAC action. She ended the year with 10+ rebounds in 15 contests which included a career-high 16 boards against VTSU Lyndon (Feb. 11). She also was a force defensively as she swatted 40 shots (1.6 bpg) which was highlighted by a six-block performance versus VTSU Lyndon (Feb. 11). She also had 11 games on the season with multiple blocks and with her strong defensive effort, she was named the NAC Defensive Player of the Week twice.
In her first year, Dunda made a strong and positive impact on the Lynx. She finished with 95 points (3.7 ppg), 72 rebounds (2.8 rpg), 13 assists (0.5 apg), and 10 steals (0.4 spg) in 26 games played. Her strongest performance came this year when she finished with a career-high 14 points in an 81-34 win versus Fisher College (Feb.15). Dunda's NAC All-Sportsmanship recognition is her first career NAC award.