Sun Conference Announces 2009-10 Men's Basketball Honor Roll
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2010 Sun Conference men’s basketball All-Conference team was announced at the Final Four banquet at the Sunset Harbor Yacht Club in Daytona Beach, Fla. on Thursday. Headlining the list of honorees were Embry-Riddle head coach Steve Ridder who was named the Coach of the Year, and Antonio Jones of St. Thomas who was tabbed as the league’s Player of the Year.
Ridder guided the Eagles to the program’s eighth regular season conference title with a 14-2 league mark, earning his 500th career victory along the way. Embry-Riddle was ranked eighth in the final NAIA national poll and is the No. 1 seed in this week’s tournament. The Eagles advanced to the tournament semis with an 89-62 win over Johnson & Wales on Tuesday and are currently 26-5 on the year.
Jones closed out his senior as St Thomas’ all-time leading scorer with over 2,000 career points. He also set a single-game scoring record with 32 against Embry-Riddle on Feb. 13 and finished the season averaging 26.9 points per game, which is fifth in NAIA II this season. He also ranks 14th in the country in steals per game with 2.6
Embry-Riddle’s David Butler garnered both Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. Butler is averaging 15.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game and leads the league in blocks with 3.3 per game.
Freshman of the Year honors went to Northwood’s Patrick Horstmann. Horstmann is averaging 11.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game for the Seahawks who are the second seed in the conference tournament.
The Cazzie Russell Champion of Character Award went to Jay Duncan, a senior on the Northwood team. Named for the former head coach of the Savannah College of Art and Design men’s basketball program, the award is voted on by the league coaches and goes to the player who best exemplifies the Champion of Character core values, including academics, community service, sportsmanship and on-campus involvement.
First Team
David Butler, Embry-Riddle (15.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 3.3 bpg)
Derell Henderson, Warner (18.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.2 spg)
Lester Hunte, Northwood (13.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.4 spg)
Patrick Horstman, Northwood (11.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.1 spg)
Antonio Jones, St. Thomas (26.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.6 spg
Eric Lorenzi, Embry-Riddle (18.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.3 spg)
Blake Touchard, Embry-Riddle (12.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.6 spg)
Second Team
Dylan Fugate, Ave Maria (11.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 0.7 spg)
Junior Geidi, Webber Int'l (14.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.5 spg)
George Gray, Florida Memorial (19.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.1 apg, 3.0 spg)
Mirnes Islamovic, Warner (9.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 0.7 apg, 1.0 bpg)
Stephen Nosworthy, Johnson & Wales (13.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 0.5 spg, 1.3 bpg)
Halston Schaffer, Webber Int'l (14.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.1 spg)
David Tucker, Johnson & Wales (11.2 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.1 spg)
Coach of the Year
Steve Ridder, Embry-Riddle
Player of the Year
Antonio Jones, St. Thomas
Champion of Character
Jay Duncan, Northwood
Defensive Player of the Year
David Butler, Embry-Riddle
Freshman of the Year
Patrick Horstmann, Northwood
Newcomer of the Year
David Butler, Embry-Riddle