FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 24, 2007
Contact:  Dwayne Hanberry, SCAC Associate Commissioner

Centre cleans up in 2006-07 All-SCAC Men's Basketball selections

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - In exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), one program swept every major award given – the first time that has happened since the conference began recognizing more than just Player and Coach of the Year following the 1999-2000 season.

Centre College had its best regular season finish since the 1992-93 season and the coaches awarded the Colonels with picks for Player- and Coach-of-the-Year as well as Newcomer- and Defensive Player- of-the-Year.

Junior guard Matt Nestheide was selected as SCAC Men’s Basketball Player-of-the-Year, head coach Greg Mason was named the league’s Coach-of-the-Year. Senior center John Patterson picked up Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors and first-year forward Danny Noll was named Newcomer-of-the-Year.

Nestheide finished the regular season ranked ninth in the league in scoring (14.7 ppg) as well as fourth in assists (3.3 apg), ninth in field goal percentage (52.5%), third in free throw percentage (84.6%), ninth in three-point field goal percentage (40.9%) and 10th in ninth in three-point field goals made (45). Nestheide who scored 20+ points in five games this season, scored the 1,000th point of his career on February 3 against DePauw. Nestheide is the second consecutive Centre player to earn the league’s highest honor, following Reggie Magnusson last season. He was also recently selected to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine District 4 Academic All-District team – the only men’s basketball player in the league to receive the honor.

Mason, in his eighth year with the Colonels, has a career record of 139-67 (through the end of the 2006-07 regular season) which represents the highest winning percentage (67.5%) in school history. It is also the highest winning percentage among all active SCAC men's basketball coaches. Centre finished the regular season with its best conference mark (12-2) since the 1991-92 season and the team produced just its second 20-win season in the SCAC era. After just eight seasons at the helm, Mason is already in second place in school history for all-time wins.

Patterson ranked fourth in the SCAC in rebounding (7.8 rpg) and was also first in blocked shots (2.1 bpg). Earlier in the season, he was named the 14th Annual John R. Collier Tournament’s top defensive and the senior post had five games of 10 or more rebounds during the season. Patterson was also an offensive threat for the Colonels, averaging 8.2 points per game and he shot a team-best 58.5% from the field.

Noll averaged 6.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game and ranked seventh in the SCAC in three-point field goal percentage at 42.1% (24-57). The first-year forward scored in double-figures seven times, mostly off the bench, and made three or more three-pointers three different times.

Joining Nestheide on the All-SCAC First Team are junior forward Edrick Montgomery of Millsaps College, sophomore forward Andrew King of Hendrix College, senior guard Andrew Tulowitzky of Oglethorpe University and senior wing Austin Brown of DePauw University.

Montgomery averaged 17.4 points (second in the SCAC) and 9.8 rebounds (tied for first in the SCAC) during the regular season and was even better in conference games. The junior’s numbers increased to 17.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in SCAC play. He was third in the league in field goal percentage (55.3%) and recorded nine double-doubles during the season. King, last year’s Newcomer-of-the-Year, finished the regular season fourth in the league in both scoring (16.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg). He was also ninth in assists (2.4 apg), seventh in the field goal percentage (52.3%) and 15th in free throw percentage (66.2%). King had 20 or more points in nine different games for Hendrix this season with seven double-doubles. Oglethorpe’s Tulowitzky led the nation in three-point field goal percentage (51.1%) during the regular season and was the Petrels’ leading scorer at 16.8 points per game (third in the SCAC). He also averaged 2.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game – good for seventh in the league in both categories. The senior also led the league in free throw percentage (88.1%) as well as three-point field goals made (2.8 per game). Brown averaged 14.4 points (10th in the SCAC) and 5.1 rebounds per game (14th in the SCAC) and was also sixth in field goal percentage (53.4%). He also ranks eighth in program history in career field goal percentage. Brown had a stellar senior campaign after being named MVP of last season’s SCAC Tournament, winning the title for DePauw on a half-court buzzer beater.