Peach Belt men’s basketball players have begun the process
of raking in postseason awards as the All-Region teams from the
National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Daktronics
have been released. The Peach Belt dominated both All-Region teams,
placing four on the NABC first team while three were named to
first-team on Daktronics with two more on the second team.
Augusta State’s Ben Madgen was named the Southeast Region
Player of the Year by the NABC. Madgen, a 6-foot-4 junior guard
from Williamstown, Australia, was selected first team All-Peach
Belt Conference for a third straight season. He currently leads the
Peach Belt Conference in both scoring and 3-point shooting
percentage at 19 points a game and 46 percent from 3-point range.
Madgen is also shooting 49 percent from the field and 86 percent
from the free throw line.
Madgen was selected the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Most
Valuable Player, pacing the Jaguars to their first PBC Tournament
title since 2002. In addition, he’s also led Augusta State to
its third straight NCAA Division II National Tournament berth.
Also named first team by the NABC was Madgen’s teammate
Garret Siler. Siler, a 7-foot center from Augusta, Ga., leads both
the nation and the Peach Belt Conference in field goal shooting
percentage at 79 percent. He’s averaging 16 points and eight
rebounds in the process to garner All-Peach Belt Conference honors
for the third straight season. Commons helped pace USC Aiken to its
second straight 20-win season and NCAA Division II National
Tournament berth. The 6-8 senior forward from Toledo, Ohio, earned
Peach Belt Conference Player of the honors for a second straight
season, averaging 17 points and six rebounds a game, while shooting
52 percent from the field.
USC Aiken’s Chris Commons was also named to the NABC first
team. The Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2007-08 and
2008-09, Commons enters the 2009 NCAA Division II Southeast
Regional averaging 17 points per game and six rebounds per game. He
is currently shooting 52 percent from the field.
Commons finished the 2008-09 regular season sixth in the Peach
Belt Conference in field goal percentage (53.8 percent), 12th in
the league in rebounds (6.1 per game), third in the conference in
blocked shots (1.85 per game), 11th in offensive rebounds (2.30 per
game), 13th in defensive rebounds (3.85 per game) and fifth in
minutes played (31.11 per game).
GCSU’s Shaun Keaton was the final first-team honoree on the
NABC team. A two-time All-Peach Belt Conference (PBC) pick, Keaton
has averaged 17.3 points per contest this season, including 22
double-digit scoring games and 11 contests with 20 points or more.
He also has an active streak of six straight games with 20-plus
scoring. He exploded for 34 points in the PBC Quarterfinal victory
over North Georgia March 6.
All first-team honorees now be eligible for All-American status.
Augusta State head coach Dip Metress was named the Southeast Coach
of the Year by the NABC.
Madgen, Commons and Siler were also named to the Daktronics
First-Team All-Region while Keaton was placed on the second team.
Also on the second team was USCA’s Josh Dollard. Dollard
enters the 2009 NCAA Division II Tournament averaging 15.4 points
per game and 7.4 rebounds per game. The totals left him in the top
10 in both categories at the end of the regular season in the Peach
Belt Conference.
He finished eighth in scoring in the league and fifth in the
conference in rebounding. The two categories were two of five
categories in which Dollard was in the top 12 at the end of the
regular season in the Peach Belt. The Auburn transfer was also in
the top 12 in the league in field goal percentage (#6 – 56.3
percent), free throw percentage (#12 – 75.4 percent) and
defensive rebounds (#2 – 5.6 per game).
NABC Southeast
All-Region
First Team
Garret Siler, Augusta State
Chris Commons, USC Aiken
Kendrick Easley, Mt. Olive
Ben Madgen, Augusta State
Kyle Moore, Tusculum
Shaun Keaton, GCSU
Second Team
Brandon Wright, Erskine
L.J. Dunn, Barton
Elliott McDowell, Lenoir-Rhyne
Jonathan Whiston, Brevard
Antonio Houston
Daktronics Southeast All-Region
First Team
Ben Madgen, Augusta State
Kendrick Easley, Mt. Olive
Chris Commons, USC Aiken
Garret Siler, Augusta State
Kyle Moore, Tusculum
Second Team
Josh Dollard, USC Aiken
Shaun Keaton, GCSU
Clemente Marton, Newberry
Jonathan Whiston, Brevard
Brandon Wright, Erskine
Baseball
About the PBC
