Men's Basketball | 3/6/2017 3:07:00 PM
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Sun Belt Brackets |
Championship Central
NEW ORLEANS – Georgia Southern guards
Ike Smith and
Tookie Brown have been named first-team All-Sun Belt, the conference announced today. The duo finished the season as the top two scorers in the league.
Smith ranks first in the Sun Belt in scoring (19.9 ppg) and field goals made (217), second in free throws made (123) and third in field goal percentage (.503). The sophomore has led the Eagles in scoring in 16 games and scored over 20 points 18 times this season. He was named Sun Belt Player of the Week Jan. 24 and is 33 points away from joining Brown as the only players in school history to reach the 1,000-point career mark as sophomores.
Brown earns first-team all-league honors for the second straight season. The sophomore ranks second in the Sun Belt in scoring (17.5 ppg), first in free throws made (140), fourth in steals (1.5/gm) and sixth in assists (4.0/gm). He scored 20-plus points in six straight games from Dec. 15-Jan. 9 and scored 20-plus points 14 times this season and 30-plus twice. Brown has led the Eagles in scoring 12 times and was named Sun Belt Player of the Week Jan. 3. He became the first sophomore in school history to go over 1,000 points for his career after netting 32 points at Appalachian State Feb. 13.
Georgia Southern earned the third seed and a bye in the upcoming Sun Belt Tournament and will play the winner of #6 Troy vs. #11 Appalachian State Friday, March 10, at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Trojans and Mountaineers play Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
All games of the tournament will be available on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app with Sunday's championship game slated for a national broadcast at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The tournament begins on Wednesday, March 8, and ends with the championship game on Selection Sunday, March 12.
First Team All-Sun Belt
Tookie Brown (Georgia Southern, Sophomore, G, Sport Management)
Ike Smith (Georgia Southern, Sophomore, G, Sport Management)
Kevin Hervey (UTA, Junior, F, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Kavin Gilder-Tilbury (Texas State, Senior, F, General Studies)
Jordon Varnado (Troy, Sophomore, F)
Second Team All-Sun Belt
Devin Carter (Arkansas State, RS Senior, G, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Jeremy Hollowell (Georgia State, Senior, F, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Bryce Washington (Louisiana, Junior, F, Accounting)
Jay Wright (Louisiana, Senior, G, General Studies)
Erick Neal (UTA, Junior, G, Broadcast Communications)
Third Team All-Sun Belt
Ronshad Shabazz (Appalachian State, Sophomore, G, Undecided)
Jaylen Shaw (Coastal Carolina, Junior, G)
D'Marcus Simonds (Georgia State, Freshman, G, Undecided)
Frank Bartley IV (Louisiana, Junior, G, Sociology)
Wesley Person (Troy, Junior, G, Global Business)
Player of the Year
Kevin Hervey (UTA, Junior, F, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Defensive Player of the Year
Jay Wright (Louisiana, Senior, G, General Studies)
Freshman of the Year
D'Marcus Simonds (Georgia State, Freshman, G, Undecided)
Newcomer of the Year
Frank Bartley IV (Louisiana, Junior, G, Sociology)
Joe Gottfried Coach of the Year
Scott Cross, UTA
The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy. New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from the Georgia Southern ticket office. For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the #FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.
