MEAC Men’s Basketball Honors Announced

Norfolk State senior Kyle O’Quinn was named the 2012 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year as announced by the conference on Sunday. Delaware State’s Tahj Tate was selected as Rookie of the Year. Savannah State’s head coach Horace Broadnax was named the MEAC Coach of the Year. All awards are voted on by the conference’s head men’s basketball coaches and sports information directors.

O’Quinn led the conference and ranked 10th in the nation with 10.7 rebounds per game and was third in the nation in double-doubles with 19. He guided the Spartans to a 22-9 record and 13-3 mark in MEAC play. The senior leads his team and the conference in blocks per game (2.9) and is sixth in the conference in scoring (15.9). This marks the first time that a student-athlete earned Player and Defensive Player of the Year honors during the same season.

Tate ranked fifth in the conference in scoring with16.0 points and 2.7 rebounds to aid the Hornets to a 12-4 MEAC record and 15-13 overall mark. He ranks eighth in the conference in free throw percentage (76.4), 14th in assists (2.8), 15th in steals (1.2), and fourth in minutes played (34.9). The rookie leads his team in points (368) and is sixth on the team in rebounds (61).

In his sixth year at the helm of the Savannah State Tigers, Horace Broadnax guided his team to their first MEAC regular season title, after entering the conference one year ago. Savannah State posted a 14-2 conference record and 21-10 overall mark. Under his tutelage the Tigers lead the MEAC in scoring defense, only allowing 58.9 points per game and are second in the conference in scoring margin (+5.4).

O’Quinn is joined on the 2012 All-MEAC First-Team by Hampton’s Darrion Pellum, Delaware State’s Jay Threatt, North Carolina Central’s Dominique Sutton, and Coppin State’s Tony Gallo.

The MEAC champion Savannah State Tigers clinched the outright MEAC regular-season title on Thursday with a 73-54 win against Maryland Eastern Shore. The Tigers will enter the tournament as the number one seed and will face the winner of the No. 8/No. 9 matchup on Wednesday, March 7 at 6 p.m.

 The 2012 regular season champion, regular-season runners-up, first-team members and top honorees including Player, Rookie, Defensive and Coach of the Year selections, will be recognized in pre-game presentations prior to their first games of the 2012 MEAC Basketball Tournament . Tournament play tips-off March 5-10 at the Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

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