Three Yellowjackets Named Honorable Mention All-Conference

BILLINGS, Mont. – Three Montana State Billings men’s basketball players were named to the 2009 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Honorable Mention All-Conference team, the conference office announced Monday.  Seniors Travis Bunker and Michael Hall, along with junior Derrick Wright were named to the team.

Western Washington’s, Ira Graham was named conference Player of the Year, while WWU’s Brad Jackson was tabbed Coach of the Year.  Teammate Morris Anderson was named Newcomer of the Year, while Western Oregon’s, Blair Wheadon, was named Freshman of the Year to round out the specialty awards.

The Vikings had two first team selections, as did Central Washington and Alaska Anchorage and Saint Martin’s had one each.  On the second team, Seattle Pacific had two, while CWU, WOU, WWU and Saint Martin’s each had one. 

MSUB led the way with the most selections on the honorable mention team with three. 

Hall, a native of Dayton, Ohio, led the team in scoring this season at 16.7 points per game.  He upped that to 17.4 points in conference play.  Hall ranked seventh in the league in scoring and led the team with 74 made three pointers, which was good for first in the league a 3.08 per game.  He was second on the team with 138 made field goals and tied for third on the team with 19 steals.

Hall had nine games of 20 or more points, including a 36-point outing in a 118-112 double-overtime victory over Alaska Fairbanks (Jan. 17).  In that game, he also drained a season-best seven 3-pointers.  He also had 24 points in the season opener at Division I and No. 10 Gonzaga, which was a game-high earning him GNAC Player of the Week honors.  He tallied 20 games in double figures.

Wright, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., led the team in made field goals with 152 and led the team in shooting percentage at a .533 clip.  He was second on the team in rebounding at 5.8 per game and was a team-best 124 of 174 from the charity stripe.  Wright led the team with 18 blocks and scored a team-high 425 points in his first season as a Yellowjacket.  He finished 10th in the league in scoring, 12th in rebounds, 13th in field goal percentage and had the second-most made free throws in the league with 121.

Wright scored a career-high 34 points at Seattle Pacific in the second conference game of the season and had five 20-point or better performances this season.  He went an impressive 10 of 12 from the field against the Falcons and was a season-high 14 of 16 from the charity stripe.

Bunker was the only Yellowjacket to play and start all 27 games.  The Beaver, Utah, native, also led the team and the league in minutes played with 1055 for an amazing 39.1 average.  Bunker was third on the team in scoring at 13.4 points and lead the team with 8.1 rebounds.  He was third on the team in made field goals with 127 and second in 3-pointers with 70.  Bunker also was second on the team in assists with 104.  Bunker was fourth in the league in 3-pointers made (2.59), sixth in assists (3.85), third in rebounding (8.1) and 18th in scoring (13.4). 

Not only did Bunker lead the league in minutes played, he had 16 games of playing 40 or more minutes, including playing all 50 versus Alaska Fairbanks.  He led the team with nine double-doubles and four games of 20 or more points.  He also had 21 games in double figures. 

GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

First Team         Position Height   Class     Hometown

+Kenny Barker, Alaska Anchorage          Guard            6-3          Sr.           San Diego, CA
*Ira Graham, Western Washington          Guard            6-1          Sr.           Fontana, CA
**Jake Linton, Saint Martin’s                   Guard            5-10         Sr.           Lynnwood, WA
Matt Penoncello, Central Washington        Guard   6-5       Sr.        Moscow, ID
Morris Anderson, Western Washington     Guard   6-2       Jr.         Federal Way, WA
*Jake Beitinger, Central Washington        Forward         6-8          Sr.           Port Orchard, WA

*Repeater **Two-time repeater  +Unanimous

Second Team     Position Height   Class     Hometown
Chris Banchero, Seattle Pacific                 Guard            6-1          So.           Seattle, WA
Brandon Foote, Central Washington         Forward         6-3          Sr.           Bellingham, WA
Travis Kuhns, Western Oregon    Forward            6-8       Sr.        Salem, OR
Calin Schell, Western Washington            Forward            6-7       Jr.         Chelan, WA
Casey Reed, Seattle Pacific         Forward            6-5       Sr.        Canby, OR
Bill Richardson, Saint Martin’s      Center   6-8       Sr.,       Shelton, WA

*Repeater **Two-time repeater  +Unanimous

Honorable Mention –   Jeremiah Trueman, Alaska Anchorage (F, 6-9, Sr., Stratford, New Zealand); Emmanuel Jenkins, Alaska Fairbanks (G, 6-0, Jr., Tacoma, WA); Johnny Spevak, Central Washington (G, 6-3, Sr., Edgewood, WA);  Travis Bunker, MSU Billings (F, 6-6, Sr., Beaver, UT); Derek Wright, MSU Billings (F, 6-7, Jr., Brooklyn, NY); Michael Hall, MSU Billings (G, 6-0, Sr., Dayton, OH); Brian Barkdoll, Northwest Nazarene (C, 6-10, So., Portland, OR); Kendall Gielow, Northwest Nazarene (F, 6-7, Jr., Medford, OR); Blake Poole, Saint Martin’s (F, 6-5, So., Eugene, OR); Brandon Larrieu, Seattle Pacific (G, 6-0, Jr., Tacoma, WA); Rafael Moreira, Seattle Pacific (C, 6-9, Jr., Brasilia, Brazil).

Player-of-the-Year – Ira Graham, Western Washington
Newcomer-of-the-Year – Morris Anderson, Western Washington
Freshman-of-the-Year – Blair Wheadon, Western Oregon (G, 6-2, Fr., Junction City, OR)
Coach-of-the-Year – Brad Jackson, Western Washington