Salem State’s Murray Earns MASCAC Player of the Year, Headlines 2017-18 Men’s Basketball All-Conference Team
Senior Shaquan Murray of Salem State is the 2017-18 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and headlines the All-Conference team which is voted on by the seven coaches around the conference.
February 28, 2018
Westfield, Mass. — Senior Shaquan Murray of Salem State is the 2017-18 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year and headlines the All-Conference team which is voted on by the seven coaches around the conference.
Murray, a senior from Boston, Mass., helped the Vikings to a perfect 12-0 MASCAC record for the regular season title plus the top seed in the MASCAC Tournament. During the regular season, he was in the top 10 in several statistical categories, including second in total points (425), third in points per game (16.3), fifth in free throw percentage (79.3), sixth in field goal percentage (48.8) and ninth in three-point percentage (36.7). He also netted 37 assists, 26 steals and 13 blocks this season. His top scoring effort of the year was in a win over Colby College where he scored 29 points while shooting 11-18 (61.1%) from the field with two rebounds and an assist.
Earning the 2017-18 MASCAC Men's Basketball Rookie of the Year honors is Noah Yearsley of MCLA. The freshman from Averill Park, N.Y., averaged 13.5 points per game while shooting 39.7 percent from the three-point line, fifth-best in the league. He also shot 77.1 percent from the free throw line which was the sixth-best in the conference while tallying 45 assists, 24 steals and 21 blocks. He scored a season-best 31 points with four rebounds while going 8-11 (72.7%) from the three-point line in the tournament semifinal against Bridgewater State.
After leading Salem State to the MASCAC regular season title, a perfect 12-0 record and the top seed in the conference tournament, Chris Harvey was voted the 2017-18 Champion's Choice Men's Basketball Coach of the Year.
Joining Murray on the 2017-18 All-Conference First Team is Joseph Carty, Rocky DeAndrade of Bridgewater State, Drew Healy of Salem State and Marcus Collins of Westfield State.
On the Second Team are Rayshon Ward of Bridgewater State, Manny Payton of Framingham State, Adam Conquest of MCLA, Sean Bryan of Salem State and Shaun McCarthy of Worcester State.