American East Conference

Lamb Unanimously Chosen Player of Year to Highlight 18-19 Men's #AEHoops Awards

3/8/2019 10:00:00 AM

BOSTON – After leading Vermont to its third-straight #AEHoops regular-season title, Anthony Lamb is the Kevin Roberson America East Player of the Year after being unanimously tabbed the conference's top player to highlight the conference’s 2018-19 men’s basketball annual award winners. All of the conference’s 2018-19 major awards were announced Friday morning along with the All-Conference, All-Defensive, All-Rookie and All-Academic teams. Award winners were nominated by their own coaches and voted on by the conference’s head coaches, who could not vote for their own team.

Full Awards Listing

Lamb was joined as a major award winner by his head coach, John Becker, who earned Coach of the Year honors for a record third-straight year. Stony Brook’s Jeff Otchere and Andrew Garcia were named Defensive Player and Sixth Man of the Year, respectively, while Binghamton’s Sam Sessoms earned Rookie of the Year accolades.  

Kevin Roberson Player of the Year
Anthony Lamb, Jr., Forward, Vermont

• Unanimous Player of the Year selection.
• Third-straight Catamount to earn the award and 11^th all-time.
• Leads the conference in scoring (20.8 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg) and is second in blocks (2.0 bpg).
• Was a seven-time #AEHoops Player of the Week selection this season, the third-most all-time.
• Also a first-team All-Conference and All-Defensive team choice.

Defensive Player of the Year
Jeff Otchere, So., Center, Stony Brook

• Fifth Seawolf to win Defensive Player of the Year honors.
• Leads the conference and ranks in the top 20 in the country in blocked shots (2.4 bpg) despite averaging just 17.7 minutes per game.
• Contributes 2.6 defensive rebounds per game.
• Also an All-Defensive team choice.

Rookie of the Year
Sam Sessoms, Fr., Guard, Binghamton

• Second Bearcat to be named Rookie of the Year and the first since 2010.
• Ranks third among league leaders in scoring (18.1 ppg) and fifth in assists (3.5 apg).
• Was a seven-time #AEHoops Rookie of the Week honoree this season, tied for the third-most all-time.
• Also earned third-team All-Conference and All-Rookie honors.

Sixth Man of the Year
Andrew Garcia, So., Guard/Forward, Stony Brook

• First Seawolf to earn Sixth Man of the Year honors in the six-year history of the award.  
• Averaged 9.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 21 minutes a game off the bench.
• Ranks 25^th among league leaders in scoring and 13^th in rebounding.
• Was named #AEHoops Player of the Week twice this season.

Coach of the Year
John Becker, Vermont – 8^th Season

• Became just the third coach to be named #AEHoops Coach of the Year for a fourth time.
• First coach to earn the honor in three consecutive seasons.
• Led Vermont to its third-straight #AEHoops regular-seasons title, becoming just the second program to win three outright titles in a row.
• Has the Catamounts (24-6) in the midst of their 11^th-straight 20-plus win season.

Six seniors, six juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen comprised the All-Conference teams. The top four teams in the standings garnered 10 of the 15 honors with Hartford earning four and Vermont, Stony Brook and UMBC each receiving two.

2018-19 America East Men’s Basketball Awards
First-Team All-Conference
Ernie Duncan, Sr., G, Vermont
Anthony Lamb, Jr., F, Vermont
J.R. Lynch, Sr., G, Hartford
Joe Sherburne, Sr., F, UMBC
Akwasi Yeboah, Jr., F, Stony Brook
 
Second-Team All-Conference
George Blagojevic, Sr., F, Hartford
John Carroll, Sr., F, Hartford
Andrew Fleming, Jr., F, Maine
K.J. Jackson, Jr., G, UMBC
Christian Lutete, Jr., G, UMass Lowell
 
Third-Team All-Conference
Ahmad Clark, Jr., G, UAlbany
Jason Dunne, Sr., G, Hartford
Cameron Healy, R-Fr., G, UAlbany
Elijah Olaniyi, So., G, Stony Brook
Sam Sessoms, Fr., G, Binghamton
 
All-Defensive Team
Devonte Campbell, Jr., F, UAlbany
Samuel Dingba, Sr., F, Vermont
K.J. Jackson, Jr., G, UMBC
Anthony Lamb, Jr., F, Vermont
Jeff Otchere, So., C, Stony Brook
 
All-Rookie Team
Robin Duncan, Fr., G, Vermont
R.J. Eytle-Rock, Fr., G, UMBC
Cameron Healy, R-Fr., G, UAlbany
Miles Latimer, Fr., G, Stony Brook
Sam Sessoms, Fr., G, Binghamton
 
All-Academic Team
George Blagojevic, Sr., Hartford
Christian Lutete, Jr., UMass Lowell
*Joe Sherburne, Sr., UMBC
*J.C. Show, Sr., Binghamton
Ilija Stojiljkovic, Sr., Maine

* Repeat Selection

The majority of the honorees will be in action Saturday when the 2019 #AEPlayoffs get underway. Complete tournament information can be found at Playoffs Central.

About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.