MAAC Announces 2014-15 Men's Basketball Major Award Winners
MAAC Sports
ALBANY, N.Y. – Iona College senior forward David Laury has been announced as the 2014-15 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Men’s Basketball Player of the Year by the leagues 11 head coaches.
Laury, a 6-foot-9, senior forward from East Orange, New Jersey, was a unanimous selection to the All-MAAC First team after leading Iona College to its second consecutive regular season title in 2014-15. He finished the regular season averaging 20.1 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game, which both ranked second in the MAAC, and his 2.7 assists per game tied for 12th. His 16 double-doubles ranked eighth nationally, in addition to him leading the conference and ranking in the top ten nationally in free-throws attempted with 213 and free-throws made with 144. Laury was named MAAC Player of the Week a league best three times, and his 603 total points led the conference and ranked sixth in the country. In February, he was named one of sixteen candidates for the first-ever Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.
Laury’s Iona teammate, Schadrac Casimir has been named the unanimous choice as the 2014-15 MAAC Rookie of the Year. Casimir, a 5-foot-10, freshman guard from Stamford, Connecticut, made 89 three point field goals, which tied for first place in the conference. He ranked seventh in the league and led all active MAAC freshmen in scoring during the regular season scoring 15.2 points per game. Casimir shot a league best of 43.8 percent from behind the three point arc and 90.1 percent from the charity stripe. A unanimous choice to the All-Rookie Team, Casimir earned a conference high eight MAAC Rookie of the Week awards, while also adding one Player of the Week and three ECAC weekly honors.
The 2014-15 MAAC Co-Sixth Players of the Year are Andrew Nicholas of Monmouth University and Zedric Sadler of Rider University. Nicholas, a 6-foot-6 senior guard from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, appeared in 27 games off the bench for the Hawks during the regular season and averaged 7.7 points and 1.3 assists. Averaging 25.7 minutes of action per contest, he also ranked second on his team with 38 made three point fields. Nicholas scored in double figures on eight separate occasions this season while leading Monmouth in scoring twice. Sadler, a 6-foot-3 junior guard from Detroit, Michigan, averaged 1.4 steals per game during the regular season, which tied for eighth in the conference. He averaged 7.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while playing in 24.5 minutes of action per game off the bench for the Broncs this season. Sadler ranked second on Rider in three-point shooting percentage, shooting 35.7 percent from long range.
Quinnipiac University senior forward Ousmane Drame was selected as the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year. An All-MAAC Second team member for the second consecutive season, Drame, led the conference and ranked eighth nationally in blocks per game (2.97) and total blocks (86). The 6-foot-9 Boston, Massachusetts native averaged 14.4 points per contest, good for eighth in the MAAC, and led the league and ranked 10th nationally with 10.8 rebounds per game. Drame was third best in the country with 19 double-doubles and was a two-time MAAC Player of the Week. Additionally, he ranked sixth nationally in defensive rebounds per game (7.45), eighth nationally in total rebounds (312), and led the MAAC in offensive rebounds per outing (3.31).
The 2015 season culminates at the 2015 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York March 5-9. Tickets for the championships are available online at ticketmaster.com.
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