Thursday, March 3, 2005

STOVELL NAMED TO MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-NESCAC FIRST TEAM

MEDFORD -- After a season in which the Tufts University men's basketball team showed great improvement over the previous year, Jumbos senior forward Reggie Stovell (Washington, DC/Hotchkiss) has been selected as a member of the All-New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) First Team.

Stovell was an integral part of Tufts' success this season.  His 18.2 points per game led the team and was third among all NESCAC players.  He also led the league with 10.2 rebounds a game. The 6'5", 220-pound tri-captain was a candidate for Player of the Year in the league.

In nine regular-season NESCAC games, Stovell led the Jumbos in scoring eight times.  On January 21, he had a career performance at Williams when the Jumbos beat the Ephs for the first time since 1995, 95-78. He put up a career-high 29 points while going 10 for 18 from field goal range. At Bates on February 5, he scored 23 points – including the 1,000^th of his career – and pulled down 14 rebounds in a clutch 78-73 Jumbo victory.

On the final weekend of the conference season, the team had a huge game against conference rival Trinity. The Bantams were tied with Tufts for second place in the NESCAC standings.  Stovell stepped up and brought what was one of the biggest games of his career, finishing with 21 points while hauling in a season-high 20 rebounds.  He also went a perfect 12 for 12 from the free throw line.  The 93-81 win clinched the #2 seed in the NESCAC tournament.

In all, Stovell was named NESCAC Player of the Week three times during the season. He averaged 21.3 points and 10.0 rebounds in the nine NESCAC games.

Although the Jumbos would end up taking a tough second-round loss to Bates in the conference tournament, Stovell did not go down without a fight.  He scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Jumbos, who lost 60-54.

The loss was certainly disappointing for the Jumbos, but the turn-around they accomplished this past season can not be ignored. It was a turn-around due in no small part to the efforts of Stovell. He finished his career at Tufts with 1,090 points and 653 rebounds.

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