Duncan Earns Daktronics All-Region First Team Honors
NORTH ANDOVER, MA – Senior captain of the Merrimack College men’s basketball team, Darren Duncan (Briarwood, NY) has been named to the Daktronics, Inc. all-East Region first team, it was announced on Wednesday.
For Duncan, it is his third time on the Daktronics, Inc. all-Region team and second straight on the all-Region first team. In 2008-09, Duncan was also named to the Daktronics, Inc. all-American third team.
Having recently become the third all-time scorer in Merrimack men’s basketball history (2,027), Duncan has led the Warriors to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1998-99 and 1999-00. Duncan and Merrimack’s upcoming NCAA East Regional quarterfinal against UMass-Lowell on Saturday at noon at Stonehill College will also be the third straight trip for head coach Bert Hammel’s Warriors—the first time in school history.
Duncan, a three-time Northeast-10 all-Conference first team selection and 2006-07 Freshman of the Year, has started all 115 games of his career while averaging 17.6 points per game. On top of his scoring ability, Duncan currently ranks atop the Northeast-10 in assists (6.9) and steals (2.6) per game.
As the Conference’s all-time leader in free throws made (717), the senior also ranks sixth all-time in Division II and second in the Northeast-10 among assist leaders at 812 for his career.
“A player like Darren comes along about once every lifetime for a coach,” said Hammel. “He is just a flat-out player. He’s distinguished himself as a truly great point guard with his ability to not just find his teammates, but score when the team needs him to.”
Senior Jason Westrol of Bentley University was named the East Region Player of the Year on the heels of winning the Conference Player of the Year honors.
The 2009-10 Daktronics men’s basketball All-America team will be announced in conjunction with the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Springfield, MA on Tuesday, March 23. The five first-team members from each of the country’s eight regions are placed on the national ballot with Division II SIDs selecting first, second and third-team All-America honorees.
2009-10 Daktronics NCAA Division II Men's Basketball
East All-Region Teams
First Team
Jason Westrol (Bentley) Senior Guard 6-3 Brielle, NJ
Laurence Ekperigin (Le Moyne) Senior Forward 6-7 Cortlandt Manor, NY
Gage Daye (Bloomfield) Junior Forward 6-2 Newark, NJ
Darren Duncan (Merrimack) Senior Guard 5-11 Briarwood, NY
Khaleef Allicott (Queens) Senior Guard 6-0 Brooklyn, NY
Second Team
Justin Swidowski (Holy Family) Sophomore Forward 6-9 Cinnaminson, NJ
Malcolm Ingram (Philadelphia) Senior Forward 6-4 Philadelphia, PA
Thomas Baudinet (Saint Anselm) Junior Guard 6-3 Watertown, CT
Russell Frederick (Philadelphia) Senior Guard 6-1 Baltimore, MD
A.J. Rudowitz (Stonehill) Senior Forward 6-6 Monroe Township, NJ