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EPPS,
SMITH NAMED TO ALL-CCAC TEAM
For Immediate Release
February 28, 2006
Two
University of St. Francis men’s basketball
players were recently selected to the
all-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference
team after a vote by league coaches.
Junior
point guard Eric Epps (Rich South HS/Matteson,
IL), the league leader in assists,
and junior forward Mike Smith (Shepard
HS/Chicago, IL), the conference’s
top scorer, were both named to the first
team.
Epps
is a repeat member of the all-CCAC unit,
having earned first-team honors last year
as well. He finished the regular season
with a significant lead in the assists’
category, averaging 6.08 feeds per game.
No one else in the conference averages
as much as 5.0 assists per contest. He
ranks third in the league in assists/turnovers
ratio (1.85) and also stands third in
minutes played (34.7). Epps currently
ranks third on the USF all-time list in
assists with 411 and has one season of
eligibility remaining. He needs only 14
more to sit atop that list.
Smith
has made his first season at USF a memorable
one. His scoring average of 19.9 points
per game is the best in the CCAC and is
nearly three points higher than his closest
competitor. It is also currenlty the fourth-highest
single-season mark in school history.
He is the only player in the conference
to hit better than 50 percent of his three-point
field goal attempts (61-120, .508) and
stands sixth in the loop in three-pointers
made per game (2.54). Smith also
ranks eighth in the league in rebounding
(6.4), despite standing only 6-1. He also
tops the conference in minutes played,
logging an average of 35.8 minutes per
game.
Each
CCAC team also named one of its players
as the recipient of the Marshall Morgan
Award, which recognizes an individual
who best exemplifies the concept of the
total team player. USF head coach Pat
Sullivan and his staff chose junior
reserve guard Ryan Haun (Putnam County
HS/Granville, IL) for this honor.
Haun has appeared in just four
games this year, but "his contributions
on the practice floor this year have been
immeasurable," says Sullivan.
The
Saints finished the regular season with
a 12-13 overall record and a 5-7 mark
in the CCAC, which placed them fifth among
seven teams. USF opens CCAC postseason
tourney play tonight at Purdue Calumet.
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