Bryant's John Williams Named Northeast-10 Conference co-Player of Year Honors; Wright and Pontes Named to All-Rookie Team

BRYANT’S JOHN WILLIAMS NAMED NORTHEAST-10 CONFERENCE
CO-PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jerrann Wright and Nick Pontes Named To All-Rookie Team

SMITHFIELD, RI - Bryant senior guard John Williams (Springfield,Mass./ Longmeadow) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference Co-Player of the Year for 2006, the conference announced this week.  Williams shares the honor with UMass Lowell senior forward Stacey Moragne as voted upon by the 15 conference coaches.

Williams averaged  20.8 points per game in the regular season and led the league's regular season statistical categories in three-point field goals made with 103 (3.81 per game).  Williams, a three-time conference Player of the Week honoree, is ranked in the top-10 nationally in free throw percentage, three-point field goal percentage and three-pointers per game.

He is the first Bryant player to earn the accolade since the inaugural year of the Northeast-10 Conference in 1980-1981 when then senior Ernie DeWitt was voted the league's first-ever Player of the Year.

Williams is Bryant's all-time career record holder with 319 three-point field goals and ranks fourth all-time in scoring with 1,736 career points. 

Freshman forwards Jerrann Wright (Cincinnati, OH / Dater HS) and Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass.) have been named to the Northeast-10 Conference All-Rookie teams.  In 29 games this season, Wright is averaging 6.9 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per game. He has started in 16 games, scoring a career-high 21 points against No. 20 Bentley on Feb. 18.  Pontes has averaged 7.4 ppg and 4.2 rpg in 30 games, plus has 13 blocks and 14 steals.   

Bryant (21-9), ranked No. 4 in the Northeast region, will await word on a potential NCAA berth this Sunday night when the Division II bracket is announced.