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| Reece Dupler |
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| Danyon Hempy |
The North Coast Athletic Conference champion College of Wooster men's basketball team landed a league-high three student-athletes on the all-conference team, while legendary head coach Steve Moore was tabbed by his peers as the NCAC Coach of the Year for the ninth time, as announced by the conference on Tuesday morning. Senior Reece Dupler and junior Danyon Hempy were elevated to the all-conference first-team after being second-team selections in 2018, while senior Eric Bulic debuted on the all-conference squad as a second-teamer.
Dupler, the 24th Wooster great to earn at least three all-conference honors, ranked sixth during the NCAC regular season with 17.3 points per game. He finished within the top-10 league-wide during the 18-game regular season in field goal percentage (.533, 130-for-244), assists per game (2.7), steals (1.3), and assists-to-turnover ratio (1.88). The guard averaged 23 points per game over the last four NCAC contests and had eight 20-point games overall in league play.
Dupler's top game came this past Saturday when he dropped 33 points against Wittenberg University in the championship game of the NCAC Tournament. During the game, the senior became the 11th 1,500-point scorer in program history.
Hempy was one of three players league-wide to average over 20 points per game during the 18-game NCAC slate. He scored 20 or more points in seven straight games from Jan. 16 to Feb. 6, including a co-career-high 31 versus Wabash College on Jan. 26 when Wooster moved into a tie for first-place in the conference. Overall, Hempy scored at least 20 points in 11 of 18 conference games, and was fifth in the NCAC in assists (3.1) and steals (1.4) during the regular season.
On the year, Hempy's scored 573 points – the seventh-most in program history and the most since Ian Franks dropped 623 during the 2010-11 season.
Noteworthy, Wooster's now had at least two first-team selections 20 times in the 35-year history of the NCAC. That's five more than the rest of the conference combined.
Bulic ranked fourth during the NCAC regular season with 7.8 rebounds per game, and he stepped up in the biggest games. Chief among Bulic's contributions was a double-double headlined by a season-high 14 rebounds against Wabash on Jan. 26. In fact, Bulic tallied a double-double in both Wabash games and in the regular-season finale at DePauw University. Offensively, Bulic scored a season-high 15 points during Wooster's 73-65 win at Wittenberg University on Jan. 12.
Moore guided the Fighting Scots to the program's league-leading 18th conference championship and 23rd consecutive 20-win season this year. Wooster posted a 16-2 mark against league foes for its first outright NCAC title since the 2013-14 season. Offensively, Wooster had the top marks in the league during the 18-game regular-season slate in shooting percentage (50.4, 576-for-1,142), points (84.7), assists (14.2), steals (8.1), and blocks (3.8).
Wooster's now had at least three all-conference selections in 16 straight seasons.
All-NCAC selections are based on conference-only stats.