Three Kats earn SLC postseason honors
3/6/2017 2:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Full Release from Southland Conference
FRISCO – The Southland Conference announced its postseason honors for the 2016-17 season on Monday with three Sam Houston State Bearkats earning recognition.
Aurimas Majauskas and John Dewey III were each named to the all-SLC third team, while senior Paul Baxter was selected for the five-member all-defensive team.
New Orleans, who claimed the outright league title, walked away with the league's top two individual honors as Erick Thomas was named Player of the year and head coach Mark Slessinger was named Coach of the Year.
The honor is the second straight for Majauskas after he earned second team all-league honors a year ago, in addition to being named preseason all-SLC entering this season. The senior from Lithuania enters the league tournament this weekend averaging 9.7 points and 3.8 rebounds a game, while shooting .601 from the field for the year. Majauskas was finding his stride in Southland Conference play, scoring in double figures in a stretch of nine of 11 games before suffering a leg injury on Feb. 11 that forced him to miss the subsequent two games.
Still, he has reached double figures in 15 of 29 games played this season and his field-goal percentage ranks second in the Southland. He reached a career milestone earlier this season when his 18-point effort against Randall pushed him over the 1,000-point mark for his career.
“Very happy for Aurimas personally, because of how hard he's worked,” Bearkat head coach Jason Hooten said. “Over a four-year period we've seen him transform his body and his game, and nobody is more deserving. It was tough he got hurt this season because he was playing so well and we were playing well as a team, but he worked hard to get back is starting to impact us again.”
Meanwhile, Dewey earned his first all-Southland honor in his first year the league. The sophomore from Bronx, N.Y., has been one of the premier newcomers in in league this season, averaging 9.7 points 5.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He transferred to Sam Houston following his freshman season at Blinn College and now is looking to become the first Bearkat to lead the Southland in assists since Ashton Mitchell did so in the 2009-10 season.
Dewey burst onto the scene with 18 and 21-point efforts in two of his first three games played and has had at least 10 points on 11 separate occasions. He has also had at least five assists 20 separate times, including a season-best 10 dimes in a win on Dec. 10 at Southern Illinois. He received the league's Player of the Week nod on Jan. 23 after averaging 16.5 points and 6.5 assists per game in wins over Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and exploded for 31 points on Feb. 25 against Abilene Christian. It was the most points by a Bearkat since the March 2010.
“For this being his first year, I'm very pleased,” Hooten said. “He has had a really good year and I think he was right there for Newcomer of the Year. He's talented, and has had some really explosive games offensively, while also leading the league in assists. The future is very bright for him and it says a lot to come right in and make all-conference.”
Baxter is the second Bearkat to be named to the all-defensive team, which has only been in existence since 2013. He joins Michael Holyfield, who won the 2015 Defensive Player of the Year honor, as Bearkats to make the all-defensive roster.
He was a preseason all-Southland choice each of the past two seasons, getting that nod this season despite missing all of last season with a foot injury. Still, he routinely was assigned to the opposition's top scoring threat and averaged 1.2 steals per game for the season. He had 10 games with multiple swipes and had a season-best four steals on Dec. 29 against Houston Baptist.
“This is the most deserving award of all, as he's poured his heart and soul into our program for the last five years,” Hooten said. “He takes on the toughest challenge every night and locks down their best guy. He's not a shot blocker, which is often what you see make an all-defensive team, but just an old-fashioned guard who is physical and tough and guards every possession.”
Baxter also turned it on offensively in league play with eight double-digit scoring games, and he made history as he joined Majauskas and teammate Dakarai Henderson as players to reach 1,000 points for their careers this season. The Austin native did his in career-best fashion, setting a new career high with 23 points in a win at Northwestern State on Jan. 14 to reach the mark.
The trio will kick off this week's Southland Conference Tournament in Katy when the No. 5 seeded Kats take on No. 8 Central Arkansas the opening round. Tip-off is set for Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Leonard E. Merrell Center.
