LINK: Complete GNAC Release
Winthrop, Mass. – Junior forward Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) of the Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Player of the Year as announced by the league office on Monday. Walters was also named to the GNAC All-Conference First-Team.
Teammate Grant Ellis (Newark, N.J.) earned Second Team honors while Devin Coleman (Bridgeport, Conn.) earned Third Team.
Walters was most recently named the GNAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after the Falcons defeated Lasell College in the GNAC Championship. On the year, the junior averaged 20.7 points, 13.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. In fact, his 13.4 rebounds per tally ranks his first in the GNAC. He as posted 22 double-double so far this season, while shooting 55.1 percent from the field. He also reached the 1,000 point milestone and did so in 78 games.
Ellis appeared in 17 games for the Falcons, averaging 19.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The senior guard knocked down 44.6 percent of shots from the field and led the league in free-throw percentage with 91.7 percent. He scored 30 or more points three times during the season, highlighted by netting a season-high 39 points at Saint Joseph's of Maine on January 28.
During his first year on campus, Coleman saw action in 22 games for the Falcons. He scored a season-high 29 points against Old Westbury on November 29th. Coleman ranks third on the team averaging 14.0 points per game as well as shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from behind the arc.
In addition, junior Jemaa Yuori (Ghana) earned a spot on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team. This season, Yuori averaged 1.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game as well as shot 52.4 percent from the floor.
The Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team is 23-4 on the year and will face the University of Rochester (N.Y.) in first-round tournament action. Albertus Magnus enters the first round on a nine-game winning streak and won their seventh Great-Northeast Athletic Conference Championship last Saturday with an 18-point win over Lasell College.