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Somerset, NJ -- A pair of Mount St. Mary’s players highlight the 2015-16 Northeast Conference (NEC) Men’s Basketball Preseason All-NEC team as selected by the league’s head coaches.  Of the five honorees, four are returning All-NEC performers.

The announcement of the team, along with the preseason coaches’ poll, was made on Tuesday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the site of NEC Basketball “Social” Media Day.
 
Preseason NEC favorite Mount St. Mary’s is represented by junior guard BK Ashe (Washington, D.C./Friendship Collegiate) and senior forward Gregory Graves (Sterling, VA/Potomac Falls).  They are joined by Sacred Heart sophomore guard Cane Broome (East Hartford, CT/East Hartford (St. Thomas More)), Bryant junior forward Dan Garvin (Bethel, CT/Bethel) and Robert Morris senior guard Rodney Pryor (Evanston, IL/Notre Dame Prep (Cloud County CC)).

A true representative of the Mount’s “Mayhem” brand of hoops, Ashe does it all from the Mount.  A capable shooter from long range, Ashe led the Mount with 54 three-pointers on the year.  When he wasn’t bombing away from the outside, the Washington, D.C. native was using his athleticism to throw down highlight reel dunks.  The 6’1” off guard paced a balanced Mountaineer scoring attack last season with 11.9 ppg.  Ashe came on strong late in his sophomore year, averaging 19.3 points over the last six games of the season en-route to third team All-NEC honors.

One of the league’s top interior players, Graves possesses a non-stop motor on a Mount St. Mary’s team known for its swarming, relentless pressure.  The 6’7”, 235 lb. power forward was one of the NEC’s most improved players in 2014-15, lifting his scoring average from 6.5 ppg as a sophomore to 10.1 ppg in his junior year, which ranked second on the Mount.  Graves also led the Mountaineers and ranked seventh in the NEC with 7.4 rpg, and posted five double-doubles.  The third team All-NEC honoree was at his best in NEC play, where he averaged 12.0 ppg and 8.2 rpg.

Broome stepped directly into the Sacred Heart starting lineup as a freshman and played with the poise of a veteran.  The silky. smooth combo guard was a five-time NEC Rookie of the Week and was tabbed to the NEC All-Rookie team at year’s end.  With exceptional skill off the dribble and deep range on his shot, Broome led Sacred Heart in scoring at 14.5 ppg, a figure that ranked second among NEC freshmen and eighth on the circuit. He also averaged 3.8 rpg and 2.4 apg, and drained 45 shots from long distance.  Last December he became just the third freshman in league history to be named NEC Player of the Week.

Garvin developed into one of the top two-way players in the league last season for the Bulldogs, who reached the NEC semifinals following a second place regular season finish. An elite athlete who made his presence felt in the paint on a nightly basis, Garvin ranked third in the NEC in blocked shots (1.6) and fourth in rebounding (7.9). The second team All-NEC honoree also finished second on Bryant in scoring with 10.9 ppg, made 52.5 percent of his shots and recorded six double-doubles.  Garvin, who hails from Bethel, CT, was even better in conference play, where he contributed 12.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg and converted nearly 58 percent from the floor.

Pryor’s range and sweet lefty stroke made for many sleepless nights for opposing coaches last season, his first in Moon Township.  A second team All-NEC selection and three-time NEC Player of the Week, Pryor ranked second in the NEC in made three-pointers (81) and three-point percentage (.429), sixth in scoring (15.6) and eighth in field goal percentage (.481).  He was tabbed the NEC Tournament MVP after scoring a team-high 17 points in RMU’s title game win over St. Francis Brooklyn.  Pryor’s flair for the dramatic continued in the NCAA Tournament with 20 points in the Colonials’ 81-77 win over North Florida and a game-high 23 points against Duke in the NCAA second round.

2015-16 Northeast Conference Preseason All-Conference Team

Name            Team  Pos.  Ht.  Wt.  Cl. Hometown/High School
BK Ashe         MSM    G    6-1  170  Jr  Washington, D.C./Friendship Collegiate
Cane Broome     SHU    G    6-0  160  So  East Hartford, CT/East Hartford (St. Thomas More)
Dan Garvin      BRY    F    6-6  215  Jr  Bethel, CT/Bethel
Gregory Graves  MSM    F    6-7  235  Sr  Sterling, VA/Potomac Falls
Rodney Pryor    RMU    G    6-5  205  Sr  Evanston, IL/Notre Dame Prep (Cloud County CC)

About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 35th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Google+, all @NECsports.