Conference

NBC Sports College Basketball Talk Preseason Mid-Major All-Americans

Somerset, NJ -- In anticipation of what should be a banner season for Northeast Conference (NEC) men's hoops, a pair of performers were recently awarded Preseason Mid-Major All-America honors by NBC Sports CollegeBasketball Talk.  LIU Brooklyn senior forward Julian Boyd (San Antonio, TX/William H. Taft) and Sacred Heart senior guard Shane Gibson (Killingly, CT/Killingly) were two of 15 honorees with each being named to the third team.

Boyd, the reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Year and Honorable Mention Associated Press All-American, is one of four returning starters for the two-time defending NEC champion Blackbirds.  After being selected to the All-NEC First Team as a sophomore in 2010-11, the San Antonio, Texas native posted career highs in scoring (17.4 ppg), rebounding (9.3 rpg) and field-goal percentage (.557) last season as he helped the Blackbirds to their second straight NEC title and another appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  For his career, the 6-7 forward has totalled 1,319 points to rank 15th on LIU's all-time list and has ripped down 794 rebounds to rank sixth all-time.

Gibson, a two-time All-NEC honoree for the Pioneers, was one of the nation's most efficient performers in 2011-12.  He led the NEC and ranked fourth nationally with 22.0 ppg, while shooting 51.0 percent from the floor, 43.3 percent from outside the arc and 86.2 percent from the line.  Gibson finished with a league-leading 87 shots from long distance and posted four games of 30+ points, including a 41-point explosion against Mount St. Mary's in late January. Gibson enters 2012-13 as the leading active scorer on the conference with 1,453 points.