Bryant's John Williams Named First Team All-Region For Second-Straight Year
BRYANT'S JOHN WILLIAMS NAMED FIRST TEAM ALL-REGION BY DAKTRONICS
ALBANY – The 2005-06 Daktronics NCAA Division II men’s basketball All-Northeast Region squad has a familiar ring to it with six players who were named to last year’s club, including three who garnered first-team accolades, once again made an indelible impression. The aforementioned sextet is joined by four fresh faces who stepped into the spotlight throughout the 2005-06 campaign. Sports Information Directors throughout the Northeast Region conducted the voting.
Senior forward Stacey Moragne of UMass Lowell and Philadelphia
University senior guard Tayron Thomas garnered Co-Player of the
Year accolades. Moragne was the regional Player of the Year last
season while Thomas was tabbed a first-team honoree for the third
consecutive season. Also, Bryant senior guard John Williams makes
his second straight appearance on the first-team All-Region squad.
They are joined on the first-team by Saint Anselm senior guard Jim
Moore, a second-team selection a year ago, and junior guard Bradd
Wierzbicki of Queens.
Moragne, the Northeast-10 Conference Co-Player of the Year and a three time All-League pick, is ranked among the conference’s top players in six statistical categories. Moragne solidified himself as the league’s second leading scoring and fifth leading rebounder. He averaged 20.7 points and 7.5 boards per-game while guiding the River Hawks to a 19-9 record this year. The nation’s top scorer and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference’s Player of the Year who led the Rams to a 20-11 campaign, Thomas scored at a 29.0 ppg clip on the way to establishing himself as Philadelphia’s all-time leading scorer with 2,414 career points.
Williams, who formed the other half of the NE-10 Co-Player of the Year duo with Moragne, has helped propel Bryant to a 21-9 slate by scoring at least 30 points on five occasions this season. Williams, who is among the nation’s top-15 players in 3FG% (.446), FT% (.875) and 3FGM/G (3.7), has drained 111 3-pointers on the year, which leaves him eight short of his own school record.
A two-time first-team All-League pick, Moore recently became only the fourth player in conference annals to be named the NE-10 Tournament MVP in back-to-back years after he paced the Hawks to consecutive conference titles. Moore has averaged 20.2 ppg this year, the league’s fourth best mark, and is the third all-time leading scorer in Saint Anselm history with 1,875 points.
Wierzbicki, who stands fourth in the country in scoring at 24.6 ppg, was the first player in Queens College history to be honored as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference’s Player of the Year. He set a single-season school standard with 689 points by scoring at least 20 points throughout 20 difference contests while leading the Knights to a 21-8 mark.
Additionally, Saint Anselm senior guard Matt Cahill earned second-team accolades for the second time in three years. Junior guard Andre Dabney of Bloomfield was tabbed a second-team pick for the second consecutive season. They are joined by Stonehill senior forward Marquis Taylor, American International senior guard John Huggins and senior forward John Sullivan of New Haven.
The 2005-06 Daktronics Men’s Basketball All-America team will be announced in conjunction with the 2006 NCAA Division II “Elite Eight” in Springfield, MA on Tuesday, March 21. The five first-team members from each of the country’s eight regions are placed on the national ballot with Division II SIDs selecting first, second and third-team All-America honorees.
Daktronics All-Region Teams
2005-06 Daktronics NCAA Division II Men's
Basketball Northeast Region All-America Teams
First Team
Stacey Moragne (UMass Lowell)
Tayron Thomas (Philadelphia University)
John Williams (Bryant)
Jim Moore (Saint Anselm)
Bradd Wierzbicki (Queens)
Second Team
Matt Cahill (Saint Anselm)
Marquis Taylor (Stonehill)
Andre Dabney (Bloomfield)
John Sullivan (New Haven)
John Huggins (American International)
