MAC Announces Post Season Awards
March 4, 2002
Cleveland, Ohio -- A pair of guards, Kent State's Demetric Shaw and Western Michigan's Ben Reed, won Mid-American Conference individual awards with Shaw becoming the first player to capture back-to-back MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors since its inception six years ago. Reed headlined the league's 2002 All-Freshman team released today.
Kent State's Shaw, a 6-3 senior guard from Ft. Worth, Texas (Dunbar HS/Tulane), was honored as the MAC Defensive Player of the Year as voted on by league coaches. Shaw paced the Golden Flashes intense defensive effort that led the MAC in scoring defense (63.5), field goal percentage defense (.411), scoring margin (+12.6) and rebound margin (+6.6). Shaw started 17 of his 29 appearances with per game averages of 6.6 points and 5.2 rebounds. He added 24 steals and consistently drew the team's toughest defensive assignment. Shaw helped KSU to its first-ever MAC Championship and a league-record 17 MAC wins.
The league's Freshman of the Year award went to Reed (Battle Creek, Mich./Central HS) as voted by members of the MAC News Media Association. Reed, a 6-3 guard, helped the Broncos win 10 more games than last year, posting a 17-10 mark and 10-8 league slate, including non-conference wins over Michigan and Virginia Tech. Reed's averages of 14.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game were the best for any MAC freshman. In his first collegiate game he led the team in scoring with 19 points against Long Beach State and in his second game grabbed a team-high eight rebounds against Pac-10 Champion Oregon. His 38 assists were second on the team and he also had 19 steals. Reed joins former Bronco Booker James (1984) as the only WMU players named MAC Freshman of the Year.
Joining Reed on the all-Freshman team as voted on by the league's 13 head coaches were Darryl Peterson of Akron, Turner Battle of Buffalo, Nate Gerwig of Kent State and Danny Horace from Miami.
Peterson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Western Hills HS) was thrust into early season duty with the loss of fellow forward Byron Thompson. Peterson responded by becoming the Zips' second-leading scorer (13.2 ppg) and rebounder (5.1 rpg). His 47.7% field goal rate (144-of-302) was the best among the all-freshman team members. Peterson scored a best of 29 points against West Division champion Ball State while adding 24 assists and 16 steals on the season.
Battle (Kernersville, N.C./East Forsyth HS) was key to the Bulls' improvement of eight more wins this year than last season. The 6-3 guard dished out 99 assists and was sixth in the league with 3.4 apg. He added 7.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game and scored a high of 17 points at Marshall. Battle was credited with 32 steals and started all 29 of UB's contests. Battle is the first UB player ever honored on the all-freshman team in the Bulls' four years in the league.
Gerwig (Pittsburgh, Pa./Schenely HS) made his presence felt mid-year when he led the Golden Flashes in rebounds four times in a five game period, three of which were on the road. Gerwig started 19 of 28 games and averaged 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds each outing. He had back-to-back games with 11 rebounds in road wins at Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan.
Horace's debut for the RedHawks was special as he paced the team in scoring (11) and rebounds (14) against UNC Wilmington. Horace (Cincinnati, Ohio/Western Hills HS) went on to average a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game as well as 6.8 points per game. His 11 rebounds helped Miami hand then No. 11 ranked Boston College its first defeat of the year on Dec. 20. Horace led all MAC freshmen with 33 blocked shots and ranked sixth overall in the MAC with 1.14 blocks per game.
The All-MAC team, Coach of the Year and Player of the Year will be announced Wednesday, March 6.
