COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UB’s Pierce is on All-MAC first team
Bona's Nicholson is A-10 rookie of year
The University at Buffalo and St. Bonaventure men’s basketball teams each gathered all-conference honors Monday.
Rodney Pierce and Greg Gamble of UB both were named to the All- Mid-American Conference team. Pierce made the first team and Gamble earned honorable mention honors.
St. Bonaventure freshman forward Andrew Nicholson was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, in voting of conference head coaches.
Pierce is only the second UB player to be named to the All-MAC first team. The junior guard and former Hutch-Tech star led the Bulls and ranked eighth in the MAC in scoring (14.7 points per game). He ranked second on the team in assists (2.2 apg) and third in rebounding (3.8 rpg). Twice during the season he earned MAC Player of the Week honors.
Gamble, who starred at Niagara Falls High School, was named to the All-MAC team for the first time in his career. The senior from Niagara Falls averaged 9.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. With 111 assists, he became the first UB player since Turner Battle in 2005 to have 100 assists in a season. He ranked second in the MAC in assists.
UB tied Bowling Green at 11-5 for the Mid-American Conference regular season title, the best finish ever in the conference for the Bulls. Buffalo finished the regular season 19-10 overall. The Bulls earned the third seed and a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament. Bowling Green earned the first seed because it beat UB twice in the regular season. The Bulls will play the winner of the Kent State/Northern Illinois game at 2:30 p. m. Thursday in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.
Nicholson is the first Bona player to be named the A-10 Rookie of the Year and just the eighth to earn a spot on the All-Rookie team.
Through 29 games, Nicholson has posted averages of 12.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. Nicholson leads all freshmen with 79 blocks and a 60.7 field goal percentage — figures that rank second overall in the A-10. Nicholson’s 79 blocks are the third-best siingle total in Bona history. He set the single-game record with nine rejections at Bucknell. Nicholson also ranks second on the team with 20 double-figure scoring efforts, including a season-high 29-point, 12-rebound and six-block performance at Duquesne on Jan. 31.
Nicholson leads all A-10 rookies in six categories, including rebounding, blocks, field goal percentage, offensive rebounds (64), double-doubles (three) and 10-plus rebounding games (three). The Mississauga, Ont., product dominated the A-10 Rookie of the Week accolades during the season, winning the weekly award a league-best six times. So far this season, Nicholson has led the team in rebounding 10 times and scoring on nine occasions.
Nicholson and the 11th-seeded Bonnies (15-14, 6-10) will make their first A-10 Tournament appearance since 2005 on Wednesday, when they take on sixth-seeded Richmond (17-14, 9-7) in the opening round at 9 p. m. at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N. J.
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