Story courtesy of Christa Parulis-Kaye, Assistant Commissioner of Media Relations
For Immediate Release:
February 26, 2009
ATTLEBORO, Mass. - All eight of the sponsored programs were represented on 2009 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Men's Basketball All-Conference Team, it was announced today by Commissioner Del Malloy. In addition to the All-NECC honors, three separate major individual award winners and the team sportsmanship award were also voted upon and selected this week.
The Becker College Hawks' senior guard Travis Suber (Springfield, Mass.), a criminal justice major, was named the 2008 NECC Men's Basketball Player of the Year. In conference play, Suber finished fourth in scoring (20 ppg), eighth in field goal percentage (.505), fifth in assists (4.2 apg) and second in steals (3.4 spg). He averaged 5.2 rebounds per game, while making the top 15 in the NECC for shooting behind the arc with a .281 three-point field goal percentage and 1.1 three-point field goals made per game.
Fellow Hawk freshman forward Terrance Favors (Boston, Mass.) nabbed the 2009 NECC Men's Basketball Rookie of the Year for his first season of collegiate play. Favors, a business major, finished 11th in conference scoring averaging 12.8 points per game and tenth in rebounding averaging 6.9 rebounds per game. He also finished seventh in blocked shots (0.8 bpg). Favors averaged a.429 field goal percentage, a .740 free-throw percentage and a .240 three-point field goal percentage.
The Elms College Blazers (24-1) took top honors as they finished undefeated in NECC play at 14-0. The Blazers' head coach Ed Silva was named the 2009 NECC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. In the past four years, Silva led Elms to four appearances in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. They earned the #1 seed and the ability to host the 2009 NECC Men's Basketball Tournament with a .960 overall winning percentage. They are still ranked #12 in the nation according to the D3hoops.com top 25 poll and are currently on a 14 game winning streak.
The Mountaineers of Southern Vermont, led by head coach Michael McDonough, were honored as the 2009 NECC Team Sportsmanship Award recipients. The Mountaineers finished with a 7-18 overall and 4-10 in conference finishing tied for 5th place narrowly losing out for the final spot in the 2009 tournament.
Voting for the All-NECC team and each of the major awards was conducted among all NECC men's basketball head coaches.
Joining Suber on All-NECC First Team were Elms' junior Juan Galdon (Holyoke, Mass.) and senior Aswad Thomas (Hartford, Conn.), Daniel Webster sophomore Chris Hanson (Salem, Mass.) and Southern Vermont junior Joe Karnik (Castleton, N.Y.).
Second team honors went out to Mitchell forward Eric Murray (Bridgeport, Conn.), Daniel Webster senior Brian Inge (Fort Washington, Mass.), Elms junior Javon Mathis (West Hartford, Conn.), Wheelock junior Sherard Robbins (Malden, Mass.) and Newbury senior Kevin Cleveland (Lynn, Mass.)
Six players received honorable mention honors including Becker sophomore DJ Exum (New London, Conn.), Lesley sophomore Jesus Trejo (Methuen, Mass.), Newbury senior Walky Magliore (Waltham, Mass.), Mitchell sophomore Jenel Russell (East Hampton, N.Y.), Becker sophomore Trey Jacobs (Lexington Park, Md.) and Southern Vermont sophomore Brendan Kordana (Adams, Mass.).
2009 NECC MENS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Travis Suber, Becker, Senior, Guard (Springfield, Mass.)
2009 NECC MENS BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Terrance Favors, Becker, Freshman, Forward (Boston, Mass.)
2009 NECC MENS BASKETBALL COACH OF THE YEAR: Ed Silva, Elms College
2009 NECC MENS BASKETBALL TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Southern Vermont College
2009 ALL-NECC MENS BASKETBALL FIRST TEAM
Travis Suber, Becker, Senior, Guard (Springfield, Mass.)
Juan Galdon, Elms, Junior, Guard (Holyoke, Mass.)
Aswad Thomas, Elms, Senior, Guard (Hartford, Conn.)
Chris Hanson, Daniel Webster, Sophomore, Guard (Salem, Mass.)
Joe Karnik, Southern Vermont, Junior, Forward (Castleton, N.Y.)
2009 ALL-NECC MENS BASKETBALL SECOND TEAM
Eric Murray, Mitchell, Junior, Forward (Bridgeport, Conn.)
Brian Inge, Daniel Webster, Senior, Guard (Fort Washington,
Md.)
Javon Mathis, Elms, Junior, Forward (West Hartford, Conn.)
Sherard Robbins, Wheelock, Junior, Forward (Malden, Mass.)
Kevin Cleveland, Newbury, Senior, Forward (Lynn, Mass.)
2009 ALL-NECC MENS BASKETBALL HONORABLE MENTION
DJ Exum, Becker, Sophomore, Guard (New London, Conn.)
Jesus Trejo, Lesley, Sophomore, Center (Methuen, Mass.)
Walky Magliore, Newbury, Senior, Forward (Waltham, Mass.)
Jenel Russell, Mitchell, Sophomore, Center (East Hampton, N.Y.)
Trey Jacobs, Becker, Sophomore, Center (Lexington Park, Md.)
Brendan Kordana, Southern Vermont, Sophomore, Guard (Adams, Mass.)