Rochester, NY—The Sage Colleges' men's basketball team had two performers honored with the release of the 2017-2018 Empire 8 All-Conference awards on Thursday. Sage, which is a first-year member of the Empire 8, finished the season with an 11-14 overall record with a 6-10 league showing.
Named to the 2017-2018 Empire 8 Honorable Mention Team from Sage was junior center Kevin Lenehan (Delanson, NY/Duanesburg), while senior captain Barceem Dukes (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) was named to the Empire 8 Men's Basketball Sportsman of the Year Team.
Lenahan, who earned Empire 8 Men's Basketball Player of the Week honors once this season, finished his first season at Sage with a 12.2 ppg average, while adding a team-best 198 rebounds on an 8.3 rpg average. A starter in 23 of 24 games played, he also connected for a 47.7% shooting performance from the floor with 113 made field goals on 237 attempted with 31 blocks and 292 points. He was Sage's high scorer five times on the season, while adding 11 games as the high rebounder. His season high's included 26 points against Hartwick (1/30/18) and 14 rebounds also against Hartwick (2/13/18). He finished with season with seven double-doubles and 15 games with double-digit scoring.
Dukes, missed the first few weeks of the season with an injury but rebounded to start 19 of 23 games played on the year. He added 10.2 ppg with 6.9 rpg and had 13 blocks with an impressive 51.5% field goal percentage (105-204) and handed out 22 assists. On his two year career at Sage, Dukes added 255 career rebounds with 23 blocks and 367 points in his 49 games played.
Sportsmanship Team
In addition to the yearly awards and all-conference teams, one member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2017-2018 Men's Basketball Sportsman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
EMPIRE 8 ANNOUNCES MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Stenglein, Iton, Townes and Nazareth Coaching Staff Take Top Honors
The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coaching Staff of the Year awards for the 2017-18 men's basketball season. The conference coaches vote on the awards and all-conference teams.
The Player of the Year award goes to Nazareth College's Tyler Stenglein, marking the fifth time a Golden Flyer has earned the honor since the league started in 1999-2000. In conference only game games, Stenglein led the league with 20.3 points per game on a 51.6 shooting percentage. In overall games, he ranks second in points per game with 19.9, first in free throw attempts (179) and sixth in field goal percentage (.474). Among Division III players his free throw attempts currently ranks 23rd, while his points per game ranks 65th. Stenglein started all 23 games he played in during the regular season posting four double-doubles and finishing in double figures in 21 of the 23 games. His season high of 35 points came on January 19, against Stevens Institute of Technology.
Utica junior Ivan Iton was voted the Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season. Ivan started all 25 regular season games and averaged 16 points and 9.4 rebounds. His 9.4 rebounds led the conference and ranks 56th in Division III. Ivon also leads the league with 60 blocks and 2.4 blocks per game which 14th and 15th, respectively, in Division III. Iton is shooting 61.1 percent from the field which ranks him first in the conference and 32nd among Division III. In conference only games, Iton averaged 16.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.8 blocks.
Hartwick College freshman Kevin Townes was named the Rookie of the Year, marking the sixth Hawk in E8 history to earn the honor. Townes, who was named Rookie of the Week six times, averaged 16.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in conference play. Overall on the season, he played in 24 games, making 23 starts and averaged 16.3 points and 6.7 rebounds. His 16.3 points per game ranked him fourth in the conference, while his rebounding average ranked him seventh. He reached double figures in 18 games including a season high of 30 points against Skidmore. Townes shot 39 percent from the field , 35 percent from the arc and 87.3 percent from the free throw line.
Nazareth College was named the Coaching Staff of the Year for second time in three seasons. The Golden Flyers finished the regular season with an 18-7 record and a 13-1 mark in conference play and will host the E8 Championship this weekend for the first time in program history. The 18 wins marks the fourth time in Head Coach Kevin Broderick's 9-year stint that the Golden Flyers have won 18 or more games in a season. Nazareth shot 48.9 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from the arc in conference only games to lead the league in both categories.
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2017-18 Men's Basketball Sportsman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
Empire 8 2017-18 Men's Basketball All-Conference Awards
Player of the Year: Tyler Stenglein, Nazareth College
Defensive Player of the Year: Ivan Iton, Utica College
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Townes, Hartwick College
Coaching Staff of the Year: Nazareth College
First Team
Name Team Pos. Yr. Hometown/High School
Dylan Lambert Houghton G/F Jr. Amherst, NY/Williamsville North
Jake Burgio Nazareth F Jr. Brockport, NY/Brockport
Tyler Stenglein Nazareth G Sr. Rochester, NY/Irondequoit
Spencer Cook Stevens G So. Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township
Ivan Iton Utica F Sr. Ossining, NY/Ossining
Second Team
Name Team Pos. Yr. Hometown/High School
Sage Brown Alfred G/F Jr. Cortland, NY/Cortland
Nick Schmidt Alfred G Sr. Olean, NY/Olean
Kevin Townes Hartwick G Fr. Lagrangeville, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes
Tyler English St. John Fisher G Sr. Lockport, NY/St. Mary's
Sammy Robinson St. John Fisher G So. Cedarhurst, NY/Lawrence
Jayson Winick Stevens G Jr. Naperville, IL/Naperville North
Honorable Mention (minimum three votes)
Name Team Pos. Yr. Hometown/High School
Justin Porrett Elmira G Jr. Dumont, NJ/Dumont
Brandon LaForest Hartwick G Jr. Cohoes, NY/Cohoes
Kevin Lenehan Sage F/C Jr. Delanson, NY/Duanesburg
Sportsman of the Year
Name Team Pos. Yr. Hometown/High School
Nick Schmidt Alfred G Sr. Olean, NY/Olean
Paul Bischoff Elmira F Sr. Oneonta, NY/Oneonta
Matthew Knezovic Hartwick G Sr. Ballston Lake, NY/Albany Academy
Carl Holmes Houghton G Sr. Cuba, NY/Cuba-Rushford
Dan Jacob Nazareth G Jr. Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon
Barceem Dukes Sage F/C Sr. Gloversville, NY/Gloversville
Tyler Farrell St. John Fisher F Sr. Hilton, NY/Hilton
Thomas Cook Stevens F Sr. Belchertown, MA/Amherst Regional
Bennito Ayarza Utica G Sr. Brooklyn, NY/