TORONTO - St. Lawrence College's Jaz Bains was named the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) men's basketball player of the year in a ceremony held in Toronto on Thursday evening as part of the 2016 belairdirect OCAA Men's Basketball Championship.
Bains (United Kingdom) was the east region's scoring champion, averaging 23.7 points in 20 games. The second-year guard scored the most points in the OCAA this season, draining 474. He also led the OCAA with 106 assists and 54 steals. Bains is also a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) all-Canadian and headlines the OCAA east first-team all-stars.
Rayvon Higdon (Rochester, N.Y.) of Redeemer University College is also an all-Canadian. The third-year forward was third in league scoring averaging 21.5 points per game. He was also third in the OCAA with 86 assists, and eighth in rebounding averaging 8.3 boards per game. Higdon is also an OCAA west first-team all-star.
Kareem Collins (Hamilton) of Mohawk College is the OCAA rookie of the year. The west division's top rookie led his team in scoring averaging 15.6 points per game. He also led his teammates with 56 assists while contributing 30 steals and 67 rebounds. Collins is a member of the west division second-team all-stars and headlines the OCAA all-rookie team.
Paul Walwyn (Scarborough) of Centennial College is the OCAA east rookie of the year. The forward averaged 13.2 points per game. He was also among Centennial's top rebounders with 102 boards. Walwyn is also a member of the OCAA all-rookie team.
Jim Flack of Sheridan College is the OCAA west region coach of the year and is the OCAA nominee for CCAA coach of the year. After failing to make the post-season with a 7-11 record in 2014-15, Sheridan went 15-3 en route to a west regional title this season.
Tom Hodge of Collège La Cité is the east region coach of the year. After only winning three games last season, La Cité won the east regional title in 2015-16 with a record of 16-4.
Branden Padgett (Detroit, Mich.) of Lambton College was honoured as the OCAA scoring champion. The fourth-year guard topped all players averaging 24.1 points per game. Also honoured as the west region scoring champion, Padgett is also a member of the west division first-team all-stars.
Andre-Nicolas Ntivumbura (Burundi) of La Cité is the east division defensive player of the year. The third-year forward led the OCAA with 98 blocks. Ntivumbura was also second in the league in defensive rebounds with 146 to his credit.
Lambton's Mike Lucier (Forest) is the west division defensive player of the year. The fifth-year forward led the OCAA with 227 rebounds, 184 defensive rebounds and an average of 12.6 rebounds per game. He was also third in the OCAA with 32 blocks. Lucier is also a west division first-team all-star.
Joining Bains as east division first-team all-stars are Murphy Beya (Ottawa) of Algonquin College; La Cité's Daniel Gracia (Ottawa) and Hess Mayele (Montreal, Que.); and Dejazmatch James (Toronto) of George Brown College.
Gibson Eduful (Brampton) of Humber College and Sheridan's Dylan Periana (Brampton) join Higdon, Padgett and Lucier as west division first-team all-stars.
The east division second-team all-stars include St. Lawrence's Andrew Dawkins (Brampton); Tarez Hepburn (Bahamas) of Canadore College; Justin Mitchell (Newmarket) of Georgian College; Taylor Robinson (Peterborough) of Fleming College; Centennial's Kendell Wilson (Ajax); and Joshua Yorke-Frazer (Rexdale) of Seneca College.
Mohawk's Lamar Barr (Hamilton), Collins and Jeff Hunt (Dundas); Marako Lundy (Bahamas) of Niagara College; and Sheridan's Brian Owusu (Mississauga) are west division second-team all-stars.
In addition to Collins and Walwyn, OCAA all-rookie team members include Rashaun Bennett (Scarborough) of Durham College; Georgian's Connor Laronde (Barrie); Niagara's Jordon McDonald (Mississauga); and Trevon Mollison (Brampton) of St. Clair College.
2015-16 OCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL MAJOR AWARDS
OCAA Men's Basketball East Division Champions
La Cité Coyotes
OCAA Men's Basketball West Division Champions
Sheridan Bruins
OCAA Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Jaz Bains, St. Lawrence-Kingston
OCAA Men's Basketball Rookie of the Year
Kareem Collins, Mohawk
OCAA Men's Basketball League Scoring Champion
Branden Padgett, Lambton
OCAA Men's Basketball CCAA Coach of the Year Nominee
Jim Flack, Sheridan
CCAA All-Canadians
Jaz Bains, St. Lawrence-Kingston
Rayvon Higdon, Redeemer
OCAA Men's Basketball East Division Scoring Champion
Jaz Bains, St. Lawrence-Kingston
OCAA Men's Basketball West Division Scoring Champion
Branden Padgett, Lambton
OCAA Men's Basketball East Division Coach of the Year
Tom Hodge, La Cité
OCAA Men's Basketball West Division Coach of the Year
Jim Flack, Sheridan
OCAA Men's Basketball East Division Rookie of the Year
Paul Walwyn, Centennial
OCAA Men's Basketball West Division Rookie of the Year
Kareem Collins, Mohawk
OCAA Men's Basketball East Division Defensive Player of the Year
Andre-Nicolas Ntivumbura, La Cité
OCAA Men's Basketball West Division Defensive Player of the Year
Mike Lucier, Lambton
OCAA Men's Basketball East Division First-Team All-Stars
Jaz Bains, St. Lawrence-Kingston
Murphy Beya, Algonquin
Daniel Gracia, La Cité
Dejazmatch James, George Brown
Hess Mayele, La Cité
OCAA Men's Basketball West Division First-Team All-Stars
Gibson Eduful, Humber
Rayvon Higdon, Redeemer
Mike Lucier, Lambton
Branden Padgett, Lambton
Dylan Periana, Sheridan
OCAA Men's Basketball East Division Second-Team All-Stars
Andrew Dawkins, St. Lawrence-Kingston
Tarez Hepburn, Canadore
Justin Mitchell, Georgian
Taylor Robinson, Fleming
Kendell Wilson, Centennial
Joshua Yorke-Frazer, Seneca
OCAA Men's Basketball West Division Second-Team All-Stars
Lamar Barr, Mohawk
Kareem Collins, Mohawk
Jeff Hunt, Mohawk
Marako Lundy, Niagara
Brian Owusu, Sheridan
OCAA Men's Basketball OCAA All-Rookie Team
Rashaun Bennett, Durham
Kareem Collins, Mohawk
Connor Laronde, Georgian
Jordon McDonald, Niagara
Trevon Mollison, St. Clair
Paul Walwyn, Centennial
- OCAA -
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