STANDISH, ME - The Great Northeast Athletic Conference has released the 2010 Men's Basketball All-Conference teams and three Saint Joseph's players have been honored.
Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY), Tyler Kelley '11 (Saco, ME) and Zach O'Brien '12 (Schenectady, NY) have all been selected, by a vote of GNAC head coaches, as members of the All-GNAC Second Team. Also, Chris Petzy '12 (Kensington, NH) has been named to the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
Eatmon, a three-time All-Conference selection, averaged 10.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 blocks per game as a senior co-captain for the 19-7 Monks. He shot a team-high 56.9% (107-188) from the floor and became the 32nd player in program-history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau during his final collegiate season. In his career, he notched 21 double-doubles with 1,008 points, 788 rebounds, 243 assists and 103 rejections. Eatmon is the only player in the 39-year history of Monks basketball to accumulate 1,000 points, 750 caroms, 200 assists and 100 blocks in their career.
Kelley enjoyed another fine season as one of the Monks top perimeter threats, as the junior guard averaged 14.3 points per game and shot 41.1% (51-124) from three-point range during the 2009-10 campaign. The Thornton Academy graduate ranks as the current career leader in three-point efficiency, with a 43.4% (115-265) success rate from downtown, and captured the Monks' single-season three-point mark last season when he shot 49.8% (51-124) from beyond the arc. For Kelley, the All-Conference honor is the first of his career.
O'Brien nets his first All-GNAC honor after averaging team-highs of 14.5 points and 4.1 assists per game. The sophomore swingman also corralled 5.0 rebounds per game and shot 44.3% (141-318) from the field, 38.2% (26-68) from three-point range and 75.3% (70-93) from the charity stripe for the Monks. O'Brien led the Royal Blue in scoring in eight different games and netted at least 20 points on six occasions as a sophomore.
Petzy, who has been selected as the SJC player who best displays the tenets of sportsmanship, emerged as a top scoring threat for St. Joe's as a sophomore. The second-year guard averaged 13.7 points per game and shot a team-high 43.6% (44-101) from three-point distance this year.
The Monks' season, and quest to win back-to-back GNAC Championships, ended when #6 Lasell College defeated the Royal Blue, who earned the #3 seed, 75-70, in a conference quarterfinal contest on February 23rd. Saint Joseph's closed out the 2009-10 campaign with a 19-7 overall record and went 14-4 in GNAC play.
GNAC RELEASE:
First Team All-Conference
Player of the Year
Albertus' 6'6'' sophomore forward, Ray Askew, has been named to the GNAC's first team all conference and has been selected as the 2009-2010 Player of the Year. Askew leads the league in rebounds with a total of 303 (12.1), tops the offensive (4.4) and defensive (7.7) rebounds. Additionally the sophomore is ranked 2nd in the league for scoring with 558 points, with an average of 22.3 points per game. Askew makes the boards with 6th in field goal pct (.512), 8th in steals (1.4), 8th in blocked shots (1.2),
Defensive Player of the Year
Emerson's sophomore Jeremy Shannon was named to the first-team all-conference and also named Defensive Player of the Year. Topping the charts in assists, with an average of 5.2 per game, Shannon is currently ranked 7th in scoring with 332 points, averaging 15.1 points per game. The forward is ranked 7th in rebounds (7.3), 11th in field goal pct (.489), 4th in steals (2.0), 6th in assists turnover ratio (1.2), 3rd in defensive rebounds (6.7) and 3rd in minutes played (35.1).
Emerson's dynamic duo includes senior Bryan Rouse who was also named to first team all-conference. Rouse is ranked 4th in scoring with 495 points, averaging 19.8 points per game. Rouse is ranked 15th in field goal pct (.480), 6th in free throw pct (.770), and 10th in total minutes played 785. Rouse also was honored as GNAC Player of the Week for two consecutive weeks.
Johnson & Wales' sophomore LaMonte Thomas was selected to this year's all conference first team after leading the league in scoring with 605 points, averaging 24.2 per game. Thomas is ranked 17th in rebounds (5.4), 9th in assists (3.1), 5th in free throw pct (.789), 14th in steals (1.4), 10th for three point fg pct (.375), 5th in three point fg made (2.5), 10th in assists turnover ratio (.7), 10th in defensive rebounds (4.6), and leads the league in minutes played with 35.9.
Lasell's Javon Williams was named to the first-team all-conference with a rank of 3rd in scoring by tallying 536 points and averaging 20.6 points per game. Williams is ranked 3rd in rebounds (8.8), 5th in field goal pct (.538), 12th in free throw pct (.711), 3rd in steals (2.1), 10th in blocked shots (1.1), 3rd in offensive rebounds (3.7), 7th in defensive rebounds (5.1), and 2nd in minutes played (35.8).
Rookie of the Year
Suffolk's Matt Pepdjonovic has been selected as the 2009-2010 Rookie of the Year and also named to the third team all-conference. The freshman is ranked 17th in scoring with 326 points, averaging 13.0 points per game. Pepdjonovic is ranked 2nd in rebounds (11.6), 14th in field goal pct (.485), 6th in steals (1.5), 7th in blocked shots (1.3), 2nd in offensive rebounds (4.0), and 2nd in defensive rebounds (7.6).
Coach of the Year
Albertus head coach Mitch Oliver was named the 2009-2010 GNAC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. When he arrived at Albertus in 2007, he turned the basketball team into a winning program. Last season, he led the Falcons to their first winning season in seven years and led them to a GNAC Semi-Final appearance. The Falcons earned the titled of 2009-2010 regular season champs and are currently seeded 1st place in the GNAC Tournament.
