Madison Beck of Manlius, N.Y., Earns All-WACBA Honors

2018 Mar 23

Madison Beck has garnered recognition from the Worcester Area College Basketball Association.

Women's Basketball seniors Ama Biney and Madison Beck, as well as Men's Basketball senior Chris Rodgers earned postseason honors from the Worcester Area College Basketball Association, as announced Wednesday in the Telegram & Gazette. Voters included sports information directors or primary contacts from each of the nine NCAA schools in Worcester County, including Division I Holy Cross and Division II Assumption, as well as members of the local media. Biney repeated as a first team selection while Beck and Rodgers landed on their respective second teams.

Biney, the NEWMAC Co-Athlete and Defensive Player of the Year, three-time All-Conference first teamer, and repeat NEWBA and D3hoops.com All-Region pick, paced the league with 62 steals overall and was second with 38 in the 16 conference games. The team leader in points per game (13.3), rebounds per game (7.3), defensive rebounds per game (5.2) and steals per game (2.5) during the regular season appeared in the top five nine more times, including third in overall field goals (133), and fourth in points (332), rebounds (182) and defensive rebounds (131). Biney hauled in a career-best 14 rebounds versus SUNY New Paltz and handed out eight assists at Smith.

The double-digit scorer in 17 contests, including six double-doubles, registered a season-high 27 points versus Coast Guard in January en route to NEWMAC, NEWBA and D3hoops.com Team of the Week honors. Over the course of the season Biney collected four NEWMAC Offensive and two Defensive Athlete of the Week accolades, including both for the week ending November 26, and two NEWBA Player of the Week nods. The senior helped send the team to the program's third consecutive NEWMAC final with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds versus Babson. She also averaged three steals per game for the tournament.

Beck, and All-NEWMAC second teamer and NEWBA Senior All-Star Classic selection, was second on the team with a career-best 11.7 points per game and third overall in the NEWMAC with a 51.7 percent field goal percentage through the regular season. The NEWMACDefensive Player of the Week following the win at Babson, totaled a career-best 10 boards in a double-double versus Bates in November and a career-high 19 points versus Springfield to begin the calendar year. She closed out the regular season netting double digits in four of the last five games and added key steals in the waning seconds in important wins against MIT and Babson.

Rodgers, an All-NEWMAC first teamer and sportsmanship honoree, led WPI with 13.3 points, 4.6 defensive boards, 3.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game in the regular season. He was also third in NEWMAC games in 3-point percentage (48.2). Rodgers went off for 31 points against MASCAC regular season champion Salem State and tied his rebound watermark of 11 at Albertus Magnus, where he also doled out a career-best nine assists, and versus Fitchburg State.

The guard, who was named the NEWMAC Offensive Athlete of the Week after an 18.5 point, eight rebound week, totaled four steals to go with 18 points at Coast Guard after scoring 19 on 83.3 percent shooting versus Wheaton. Rodgers netted double-digits in 10 of 12 NEWMAC contests, including the last seven highlighted by 27 versus Emerson. Earlier in the conference slate, Rodgers sank his second buzzer beater in as many years to lift the Engineers past the Lions in Boston. After dropping a dozen points in the NEWMACquarterfinal versus Wheaton, he scored 14, including six in the final five minutes of regulation and the tying layup, as the Engineers knocked off top-seeded, and NCAA Division III Final Four participant, Springfield in the NEWMAC semifinal.

In a close vote, Holy Cross sophomore Lauren Manis was named the WACBA Women's Player of the Year. Fitchburg State's Mikaela Mitchell claimed Rookie of the Year honors while Becker head coach David Bostick, who shared last year's accolades, repeated as Coach of the Year. Nichols earned two of the three men's major awards as junior Marcos Echevarria and head coach Tom Glynn, the recipient of 10 first place votes, repeated as Player and Coach of the Year, respectively. Assumption's Matthew Kelly was selected as the men's Rookie of the Year.

WACBA (Worcester Area College Basketball Association) is an organization billed as "one of its kind in the country" featuring nine colleges, 18 programs plus sports information directors and media members to foster friendships and camaraderie along with promoting the GREAT GAME OF BASKETBALL throughout the TRADITIION RICH Worcester Country Area.

Full WACBA Release -

Holy Cross' Manis and Nichols' Echevarria Headline 2018 All-WACBA Awards

WORCESTER - Holy Cross sophomore Lauren Manis and Nichols junior Marcos Echevarria headline the All-WACBA scrolls as the Worcester Area College Basketball Association revealed its 2017-18 awards Wednesday in Jen Toland's weekly college column. Voters included sports information directors or primary contacts from each of the nine NCAA schools in Worcester County, including Division I Holy Cross and Division II Assumption, as well as members of the local media.

In a close vote, Manis was named the WACBA Women's Player of the Year. Fitchburg State's Mikaela Mitchell claimed Rookie of the Year honors while Becker head coach David Bostick, who shared last year's accolades, repeated as Coach of the Year. Nichols earned two of the three men's major awards as Echevarria and head coach Tom Glynn, the recipient of 10 first place votes, repeated as Player and Coach of the Year, respectively. Assumption's Matthew Kelly was selected as the men's Rookie of the Year.

Manis also made the All-WACBA First Team for the second consecutive year, as did Becker sophomore Cassidy Harrison, Worcester State junior Britt Herring and WPI senior Ama Biney. Fellow Crusader, senior Infiniti Thomas-Waheed was upgraded from last year's second team while Assumption junior Morgan O'Donnell made her debut on the scroll. Clark junior Ogechi Ezemma and Becker junior Adrianna Dowdy headlined the second team. They were joined by Anna Maria senior Kristina Russo, Fitchburg State sophomore Angelina Marazzi, Worcester State sophomore Catherine Sweeney and WPI senior Madison Beck.

Echevarria, who was on the top half of all 12 ballots, and sophomore teammate DeAnte Bruton, as well as Anna Maria sophomore Mike Rapoza and Becker senior Samuel Durodola were all named to the All-WACBA First Team for the second year in-a-row. Becker junior Kareem Davis moved up to the first team while Holy Cross junior Jehyve Floyd also earned top billing. WPI senior Chris Rodgers led the second team that also featured Kelly, Clark junior Luca McCormick, Fitchburg State junior Jonathan Perez, Nichols sophomore Jerome Cunningham and Worcester State sophomore Shaun McCarthy.

WACBA (Worcester Area College Basketball Association) is an organization billed as "one of its kind in the country" featuring nine colleges, 18 programs plus sports information directors and media members to foster friendships and camaraderie along with promoting the GREAT GAME OF BASKETBALL throughout the TRADITIION RICH Worcester Country Area.

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI is one of the nation's first engineering and technology universities. Its 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. WPI's talented faculty work with students on interdisciplinary research that seeks solutions to important and socially relevant problems in fields as diverse as the life sciences and bioengineering, energy, information security, materials processing, and robotics. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Projects Program. There are more than 40 WPI project centers throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.