South Easton, Mass. - Le Moyne College senior forward Laurence Ekperigin (Cortlandt
Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) has been named to the Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball First Team, as voted upon by the league's 16 head coaches and announced by the conference office on Friday afternoon. Graduate student guard Damani Corbin">Damani Corbin (Brooklyn, N.Y./Frederick Douglass) was named to the conference's third team.
Ekperigin, named to the First Team for the third straight year, is the first Le Moyne men's basketball player to garner first team honors in three consecutive seasons. Ekperigin, named the conference's player of the week six times this year, has received post-season honors in each of his four seasons after earning All-Rookie accolades as a freshman.
Le Moyne's career scoring and rebounding leader, Ekperigin leads the conference in scoring at 21.8 points per contest, the fourth-highest average in the program's 62-year history and the highest average by a Dolphin since 1994-95 (Mike Montesano, 23.1). Ekperigin, the team's top scorer and rebounder for the third consecutive season, leads the conference in rebounding for the second straight year at 12.3 per game and is third among Division II players nationally, while also leading the league with 67 blocked shots. The national leader in double-doubles with 20, Ekperigin has scored in double figures in all 27 games and 52 consecutive games dating back to last season, while also posting double digits in rebounds on 20 occasions. Ekperigin, who has scored 30 or more points in seven games on the campaign, while grabbing at least 15 rebounds on seven occasions, became the program's all-time leading scorer in an 86-70 home win over Pace on February 17 and the all-time leading rebounder in an 87-83 home victory over Saint Rose on February 24. Through 116 career games, Ekperigin has 1,949 points and 1,162 rebounds, both totals which surpassed the previous school records held by Len Rauch '91.
Corbin, honored by the conference for the second time in his career after earning a spot on the 2005-06 All-Rookie team as a true freshman, is second on the team and 14th in the conference in scoring at 14.7 points per game. Corbin, who became the program's 36th player to record 1,000 career points in a 78-59 home victory over Franklin Pierce on January 30, has made 56.3-percent of his shots from the field, the eighth-best percentage in the conference. Corbin also ranks sixth in the league in assists with 110. In a 79-71 win over Assumption, Corbin scored a career-high 27 points on 13-of-15 shooting. Corbin recorded a pair of double-doubles on the season. He picked up his third career double-double, and first involving rebounds, with 21 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in a 76-65 loss to Division I St. Bonaventure. Three games later, Corbin scored 12 points and added 10 rebounds at Adelphi in a 90-77 setback.
Le Moyne (18-9, NE-10 14-8), which won its most conference games since the 2003-04 season, opens Northeast-10 Conference tournament play on Monday at 7:00 p.m. against the winner of Saturday's opening-round match-up between 5th-seeded Saint Anselm and 12th-seeded Pace.
-agate-
2009-10 All-Northeast-10 Conference Selections
|
|
|
|
First Team
|
|
|
|
Jason Westrol
|
Sr.
|
G
|
Bentley
|
Laurence Ekperigin
|
Sr.
|
F
|
Le Moyne
|
Darren Duncan
|
Sr.
|
G
|
Merrimack
|
Thomas Baudinet
|
Jr.
|
G
|
Saint Anselm
|
A.J. Rudowitz
|
Sr.
|
F
|
Stonehill
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Second Team
|
|
|
|
Richard Byrd
|
Jr.
|
G
|
Adelphi
|
Brian Tracey
|
Jr.
|
F
|
Bentley
|
Kyle Caiola
|
So.
|
G
|
UMass Lowell
|
Darin Mency
|
Jr.
|
G
|
Merrimack
|
Randall Stallworth
|
Sr.
|
G
|
Stonehill
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Third Team
|
|
|
|
Aikeem Vanderhorst
|
Sr.
|
F
|
American International
|
Kinard Dozier
|
Jr.
|
G
|
Franklin Pierce
|
Damani Corbin
|
Gr.
|
G
|
Le Moyne
|
Greg Vetrano
|
Sr.
|
G
|
Saint Anselm
|
Shea Bromirski
|
So.
|
G
|
Saint Rose
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| All-Rookie |
|
|
|
| Tim Beinert |
Fr. |
F |
Assumption |
| Eric Jean-Guillaume |
Fr. |
G |
Franklin Pierce |
| Travis Warech |
Fr. |
G |
Saint Michael's |
| Andre Pope |
Fr. |
G |
Saint Rose |
| Tobin Carberry |
Fr. |
G |
Southern Connecticut State |
Player of the Year: Jason Westrol, Bentley
Defensive Player of the Year: Randall Stallworth, Stonehill
Freshman of the Year: Andre Pope, Saint Rose
Coach of the Year: David McLaughlin, Stonehill