Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2002
Written by Julie Fox
MEFORD
- Two members of the Tufts men's basketball team earned New England Small
College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) awards today when the honors were announced
by the conference office. Junior
guard Mike McGlynn (Medford, MA/Arlington
Catholic) was named Second Team All-NESCAC, while freshman Craig
Coupe (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) was named the NESCAC Rookie of the Year.
McGlynn
played in his first season for the Jumbos after spending two seasons at Brandeis
University. He immediately became a
huge part of the Jumbos' offense, and he led the team in scoring and finished
fifth in the NESCAC with 18.0 points per game.
He was especially strong against NESCAC opponents, averaging 23.6 points
in league games. McGlynn was also lethal behind the three-point arc, and his
.481 three-point field goal percentage (102/212) led the NESCAC.
Connecting
on a total of 102 three-pointers this season, McGlynn topped Bill Slackman's
1990-91 total of 90 to set a new school record. Perhaps more important than his
individual statistics, McGlynn stepped up with superb play to
help ease the team's pain of losing starting point guard Phil
Barlow to a season-ending ankle injury. In addition, McGlynn scored his
1,000th career point this season in an 88-87 loss at Trinity College on January
25. After scoring 756 points in two
years at Brandeis, McGlynn finished the season with 1,207 career points.
Coupe
developed into an important inside presence for the Jumbos, ranking among the
leaders in NESCAC in three different statistics. He averaged 2.2 blocks per game to finish second in NESCAC,
his 8.5 rebounds per game ranked fifth in NESCAC, and he hit 53.1% of his field
goals (120/226) to finish fourth in NESCAC.
Coupe was third on the team in scoring, with 11.9 points per game, and
logged the second most minutes overall behind McGlynn, playing 608 minutes this
season. Coupe scored 20 points and
collected 10 rebounds in his best offensive effort of the season against
Connecticut College on February 16. He
had an excellent overall game against Wesleyan on February 15, when he scored 18
points, pulled down eight rebounds, and blocked five shots.
This
is the third straight year that a Tufts player has won NESCAC Rookie of the Year
award. Barlow shared the award last season and Brian Shapiro was the recipient
in 2000.
Head
Coach Bob Sheldon's team finished
12-13 overall and snuck into the NESCAC playoffs, earning the seventh seed.
They ended their season with a loss to second-seeded Williams.
The Jumbos will lose co-captains Bobby
MacMannis and Bruce Reese to
graduation, as well as senior Kevin Reade, but should return their top eight
scorers and be in good shape for next season.
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