MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Four members of the Martin Methodist Men's Basketball team received hardware Wednesday night at the SSAC's annual championship awards banquet held at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
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Monte Burney, Josh Watson and Darius Woods all garnered All-Conference selections as Watson and Burney landed on the league's 10-man First Team. Woods represented Martin Methodist on the 10-man Second Team All-Conference squad.
Burney and teammate Jamaal Ahmad also claimed superlatives during the awards ceremony, with Burney chosen as the league's Newcomer of the Year. Ahmad, meanwhile, landed a berth on the conference's five-man All-Freshman team.
Burney, a 6-foot-2 junior from Clarksville, Tennessee, appeared in all 29 contests for the RedHawks in his first season and led the squad in scoring at 14.1 points per contest. Burney was one of the most efficient scorers in the conference this season, as he converted 46.3 percent of his shots from the floor – a mark that ranked fourth in the league. Burney was also one of the top defensive players in the conference this season, recording a 2.0 steals per contest – a number that was narrowly behind his backcourt teammate Watson for the league lead. Burney's 60 total thefts ranked 12th in the NAIA this season and his 2.0 average ranked 16th in the country. Burney was the league's Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 8.
Watson, a 6-foot-5 senior from Moss Point, Mississippi, turned in one of most all-around seasons in the NAIA this season. Watson led the RedHawks in rebounds (6.8), assists (3.8) and steals (2.3). Watson also posted a 12.2 scoring average in his senior campaign and finished in double-figures in all but eight contests this year. Watson finished the season ranked first in the conference in steals per game, third in assists and fifth in blocks. Watson also finished third in 3-point percentage (.412) in league play.
Woods, a 5-foot-9 senior from Memphis, Tennessee, started all 29 games for the RedHawks in 2014-15 and was one of the team's most consistent regular-season performers. The point guard averaged 12.5 points, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals per contest in his final season as a RedHawk. Woods saved his best for last as he finished with 14 or more points in six of his last seven games and sank two or more 3-pointers in his last nine contests.
Burney, Watson and Woods combined for 307 of the RedHawks 449 total assists on the season and the club could see all three players reach triple-digits if Burney were to log nine more helpers in the RedHawks postseason.
Ahmad, 6-foot-1 guard from Dyersburg, Tennessee, had a strong campaign off the bench for the RedHawks in 2014-15. The freshman appeared in all 29 contests and made two starts in his first season in a RedHawk uniform. Ahmad averaged 3.6 points per contest and 1.5 rebounds per ballgame, but his defense and overall sound play is what landed the newcomer a berth on the league's All-Freshman team. Ahmad handed out 36 assists to just 17 turnovers for a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio that ranked No. 28 in the NAIA this season.
RedHawk junior Kadijon Townsend was also honored during Wednesday's banquet as the Pulaski native was chosen as the RedHawks Champions of Character representative.
In addition to individual hardware, the RedHawks were also honored for their regular season runner-up finish.
"I could not be more proud of our five guys for their honors tonight," RedHawks head coach Scott Combs said. "We have such a great team full of talented guys. It was great to see them all honored for their individual sacrifices to help us get to where we are thus far. We have some other guys on this squad who might have received hardware if they were in any other conference. We are excited to be down in Montgomery and ready to start this chase of a conference championship."
The second-seeded RedHawks will begin their pursuit of a conference title on Thursday when they take on No. 10-seed Belhaven (Miss.) University in their quarterfinal matchup. The RedHawks claimed a 94-88 victory in the regular-season meeting between the two teams back on Jan. 2.
Tipoff in Thursday's contest is set for 2:15 p.m. at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery.
