Dougher, Brenton, Joyner earn All-Conference honors
West Hartford, Conn. - Junior Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) was named the 2011-12 America East Defensive Player of the Year to headline three Stony Brook men's basketball student-athletes earning All-America East honors, and head coach Steve Pikiell was named the 2011-12 America East Coach of the Year, the conference announced during its annual awards reception held at the Harry Jack Gray Center on the University of Hartford campus.
Brenton and senior Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J) were both named first-team All-America East, the first time in program history Stony Brook has posted two student-athletes on the first team. Senior Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) was named to the All-America East third team, and Brenton was also on the All-Defensive team.
Brenton is Stony Brook's first-ever America East Defensive Player of the Year, earning a reputation as a solid on-the-ball defender, tenacious rebounder and willing to take charges.
Brenton bounced back from missing the entire 2010-11 season by earning first-team honors. He led the Seawolves in rebounding (7.8/game), assists (92), steals (42) and free throws made (74) while also shooting 57 percent from the field. He is tied for third in America East in rebounding, ninth in assists (3.3/game), fourth in steals (1.5/game), sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.6) and tied for second in offensive rebounding (3.0/game).
Previously, Brenton was named to the All-America East second team and All-Defensive team as a sophomore and was on the All-Rookie team as a freshman.
Dougher, who was a preseason All-America East selection at the start of the year, led the Seawolves and was 10th in the conference in scoring at 13.4 points per game. The senior point guard also led America East in three-pointers made per game (2.8) and was seventh in three-point shooting (.373). His 2.8 three-pointers per game also ranks him 22nd in the nation. Dougher is Stony Brook's all-time leader in three-pointers made with 327, which also ranks him third in the conference's all-time history, and he is just 30 points away from becoming the program's all-time Div. I scoring leader.
Previously, Dougher was a two-time All-America East second team selection and was named to the All-Rookie team as a freshman.
Joyner earns the first All-Conference award of his career after an impressive season on both ends of the floor. He was third on the Seawolves in scoring (8.7/game), second in rebounding (6.5/game) and first in blocked shots (19). He led America East in field goal percentage at 59 percent and was even more impressive during conference games, shooting a league-best 66 percent. He also provided outstanding low-post defense, holding his primary America East defensive assignments under 10 points a game for the season.
Pikiell has led Stony Brook to its second 20-win season and America East regular season championship in the program's last three seasons. This season, his squad finished 14-2 in the conference and was in first place during the entire regular season, the first wire-to-wire America East champion since Vermont in 2006-07. Pikiell's squad ranks at the top of America East in scoring defense (59.1/game allowed), scoring margin (+8.3), rebounding margin (+7.6) and turnover margin (+1.29).
Stony Brook enters the 2012 America East Championship as the No. 1 seed and will take on No. 9 Binghamton in the quarterfinals Saturday at Chase Arena at 12 p.m. Live stats and video are available through AmericaEast.com, and WUSB 90.1 FM will have live radio coverage. The Seawolves are in search of their first-ever conference title and NCAA Tournament bid.
