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March 11, 2008
RALEIGH, N.C. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) earned several awards at the 2008 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tip-off Banquet. The Lady and Fighting Hawks were well represented as five different players took six separate honors, four of which were earned by the women's basketball team. The top Hawk honors went to Lady Hawks Casey Morton (Mardela Springs, Md./Mardela H.S.) who was named the MEAC Rookie of the Year and April McBride (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle H.S.) who was a first team selection. Morton combined with two of her teammates to place a UMES player on each team. Morton, as the Rookie of the Year was also named to the All-Rookie Team while Tiffany Reid (Philadelphia, Pa./National Christian Academy) was named All-MEAC Second Team and McBride was named All-MEAC First Team. Just a sophomore, McBride had an outstanding year for the Lady Hawks. She finished her regular season averaging 15.6 points per game, good enough for fourth in the league while posting 8.8 rebounds a contest, third in the league. She was fifth in the MEAC in offensive rebounds 3.34 per game) and third in defensive boards (5.48 per contest). Arguably the conference's most consistent player, McBride tallied 11 double doubles and ranked eighth in field goal percentage shooting over 47 percent from the floor. McBride also ranked ninth in the league in steals per game with 2.28 per contest. She was the heart of the Hawk offense, averaging the sixth most minutes in the MEAC. Reid also had a stellar sophomore season. She averaged 13.8 points per game, good enough for eighth overall. Reid was also eighth in assists per game, handing out 3.19 per contest, a total of 83 on the season. Eight was her lucky number as she was ranked eighth in the MEAC in free throw percentage, shooting 74 percent from the charity stripe. Reid, known as an athletic player who can go to the basket also developed into one of the league's top shooters. She was third in the conference in three point percentage and three-point makes. She drained 51 of 155 attempts, good enough for just under 33 percent. The two-guard was ninth in the MEAC in assist to turnover ratio at .91 and was 15th in blocked shots, getting 13 on the year. Reid was needed on the floor a lot this season and was 12th in the MEAC in minutes played. Morton, took home two pieces of hardware at the banquet, the coveted Rookie of the Year trophy and an All-Rookie Team selection. She posted 11.2 points per game, 18th in the conference and the most of any freshmen. She was 11th in the league in assists per game at 2.82, second among freshmen. Morton also was ranked tenth in three-pointer made (39), again the most of an first year player and was 11th in assist to turnover ratio at a .88 clip, the best of any freshmen. She also was 15th in the league in minutes played. With these three outstanding young ladies having two more years to play together, the future looks bright for the Lady Hawks who tied a school record for wins this season. On the men's side all-everything performer Ed Tyson (Baltimore, Md./Walbrook H.S.) took home All-MEAC second team honors for his play. Tyson led the MEAC in scoring at 19.9 points per game. He ranked 11th in the conference for free throw percentage at .757 and was fourth in three-pointers made with 69. He also led the league in minutes played with 1,138 minutes, an average of 36.71 minutes per contest. Also earning a nod was freshmen Marc Davis (Baltimore, Md./Walbrook H.S.) who was an All-MEAC Rookie Team selection. Davis was 22nd in the league in scoring with 10.6 points per game. He was the highest scoring freshmen in the conference. Davis would also be ranked third in the MEAC in assists at 3.29 per game, giving out 102 dimes. He was fifth in steals with 1.68 per game and sixth in assist to turnover ratio at a clip of 0.86. The action for the Hawks begins on Wednesday when the 11th seeded men play sixth seeded Florida A&M at 3:00 p.m. and the fifth seeded women take on fourth seeded Hampton on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. See www.meacsports.com for a complete list of the All-Conference teams. |
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