|
| Xavier Brown |
|
| Doug Thorpe |
The North Coast Athletic Conference-champion College of Wooster men's basketball team had four of its standouts selected to the All-NCAC Team, headlined by the backcourt duo of Xavier Brown and Doug Thorpe as they were both first-team award winners, the league office announced Wednesday. Post player Josh Claytor and forward Kenny DeBoer both received honorable mention.
Thorpe had a slow start to his junior season due in part to an injury, but started coming on strong around the midway point and is now the Fighting Scots' leading playmaker with 13.6 points and 2.4 assists per night. The first-time all-NCAC honoree has been averaging 15.4 points since Jan. 9, including four 20-point games, and in the conference statistics, the 5-9 guard ranks fourth overall in free throw percentage (.802), seventh in 3-point percentage (.393), and 10th in 3-pointers made (1.84 per game).
Brown, a first-team all-conference selection for the second year in a row, has nearly identical numbers to Thorpe as his stat line includes 13.2 points and 2.3 assists. Those are both up from last season when he was the NCAC Newcomer of the Year, and the 6-0 guard's rebounding (4.1 rpg) and steals (1.3 spg) have also improved. Brown, who scored a career-high 35 points against Wabash College on Dec. 8, currently sits fifth in the league in steals and seventh in free throw percentage (.758).
Claytor, a senior forward/center, garners his first all-conference recognition after being a key contributor for Wooster each of his four seasons. This year, he is the team's third-leading scorer at 9.3 points on a league-leading .630 field-goal percentage. The latter is a career high, as are his free throw percentage (.688), rebounding (5.7 rpg), and assists (1.1 apg). Claytor has played particularly well of late, averaging 11.0 points and 7.1 rebounds over the last seven contests.
DeBoer took significant strides as a sophomore, resulting in his initial all-NCAC accolade. He's more than doubled his output from last year to 8.3 points, scoring in a variety of ways via 56 two-point field goals (.468), 17 3-pointers (.405), and 52 free throws (.754), and his free throw percentage ranks ninth-best in the conference. The 6-5, 220-pound DeBoer also averages 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists. During one stretch (Jan. 16-26), DeBoer made 16 consecutive field goals while averaging 14.0 points in those four games.
Wooster carries a 22-5 overall record into this week's NCAA Div. III Championship first-round game against Penn State Behrend (20-8). The Scots, making their 18th appearance of the last 19 years in the national tourney, will host the Lions on Saturday, March 2, at 7 p.m.