Courtesy of MAACSports.com
ALBANY, NY – Monmouth University’s Justin Robinson was selected as the unanimous 2016-17 MAAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. Quinnipiac’s Mikey Dixon claims the Rookie of the Year Award while Saint Peter’s University’s Chazz Patterson was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year. The 6th Player of the Year is Austin Tilghman from Monmouth University.
Robinson is just the fourth player in the history of the conference to win this award in back-to-back seasons. He joins Iona’s Steve Burtt (1982-83, 83-84), La Salle’s Lionel Simmons (1987-88, 88-89, 89-90) and Manhattan’s Luis Flores (2002-03, 03-04).
Robinson was a unanimous selection to the All-MAAC First Team for the second year in a row. He ranked first in the conference with 19.9 points per game and third in the MAAC with 4.8 assists per game. Robinson made 2.7 three-pointers per game, which was third best in the MAAC. His 1.5 steals per game was fourth best in the MAAC. Robinson posted an 85.2 free-throw percentage, which was fifth-best in the conference from the charity stripe.
Robinson led the Hawks to its second straight MAAC Regular Season Championship. Monmouth finished the regular season on a 16-game win streak and posted an 18-2 MAAC and a 26-5 overall record. Monmouth became the first team in conference history to win 18 MAAC games in a single-season. He was named MAAC Player of the Week three times this season.
Dixon, a 6-foot-2 guard from New Castle, DE ranked sixth in the conference with 16.8 points per game, the best in his rookie class. He posted an 85.9 free-throw percentage, which ranked fourth in the MAAC. Dixon started 19 games for the Bobcats this season and was their leading scorer. Dixon is a six-time MAAC Rookie of the Week this season. Quinnipiac claimed the Rookie of the Week Award ten out of a possible 16 times this season (Peter Kiss, four times) Dixon led all freshmen in scoring, free-throw percentage and three-point field-goals made.
The 2016-17 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year is Chazz Patterson from Saint Peter’s University. Patterson anchored the Peacocks defense, which held opponents to a league-best 61.6 points per game. The 6-foot- 3 senior guard ranked second in the MAAC with 1.8 steals per game and 53 total steals.
The 2016-17 MAAC 6th Player of the Year is Austin Tilghman from Monmouth University. The 6-foot-1 junior guard averaged 6.7 points in 19.7 minutes played per game. He appeared in 30 games for the Hawks this season and posted a career-high 21 points vs. Marist on Jan. 8, 2017. The Wilmington, Delaware native shot 49.5 percent from the field and 73.6 percent from the free-throw line.
The 2017 MAAC Championship title game will take place on Monday, March 6 at 9:00 p.m. and will air live on ESPN2 with the winner earning the leagues automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
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