Manhattan’s Nelson and Marist’s Byrd Named Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s Basketball Weekly Award Winners

12/14/2020 1:00:00 PM

Player of the Week
Ant Nelson, Manhattan
Jr., New York, NY/South Kent School (CT) (Seton Hall)
Junior guard Ant Nelson made one of the finest Manhattan debuts in recent history, averaging 23.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 3.0 apg. The guard shot 71.4 percent (15-of-21) from the floor, including 85.7 percent (6-of-7) from deep, and a perfect 100.0 percent (10-of-10) from the line. Nelson began his Manhattan career with a career-high 19 points, on 7-of-9 shooting in game one against Rider, but that mark would last just 24 hours. On Saturday, he led the Jaspers to their first victory of the year with a dominant 27-point outing, which equaled the most points by a Manhattan player since Warren Williams notched 27 in the quarterfinals of the 2019 MAAC Championship. He also added six rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal, while converting on 8-of-12 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from deep, and a perfect 8-for-8 from the line.
 
Rookie of the Week
Hakim Byrd, Marist
Fr., Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti
Byrd led the Red Foxes by averaging 13.5 points in Marist's two-game series at Canisius this weekend. He shot .524 (11-for-21) from the field and .375 (3-for-8) from three-point range. On Friday, Byrd scored a career-high 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field while also contributing three rebounds, two assists, and a steal. On Saturday, Byrd's three-point play with 35 seconds remaining put Marist ahead for good in the Red Foxes' 56-52 triumph. He tied for the team lead with 10 points in the game.
 
About the 2021 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships:
The MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships return to New Jersey on March 9-13, 2021 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. To stay up to date on MAAC basketball, visit http://maacsports.com/basketball and follow @MAACHoops on Twitter.
 
About Time Out for Black Lives
Time Out for Black Lives aims to inspire and educate youth, athletes, families and fans. The initiative has an interactive website where coaches and student-athletes from MAAC basketball programs contribute their time and resources to read children’s books in entertaining videos, all focusing on Black culture, history, music and myths. The program comes as part of the MAAC’s United for Justice campaign that was announced over the summer.  For more information, visit timeoutforblacklives.com.
 
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) celebrates its 40^th year of competition during the 2020-21 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.