KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The UVM men's basketball team had two student-athletes and its head coach earn National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District I honors on Monday.
Anthony Lamb made the First Team for the second year in a row and
Stef Smith landed on the Second Team. Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach
John Becker was named Coach of the Year.
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NABC: Release
NABC districts are divided by athletic conferences. District I is composed of programs in America East and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
Lamb, the two-time reigning America East Player of the Year, paced the team with a 16.7 scoring average, 7.1 rebounds per game, and 41 total blocks. He was one of two Catamounts to start all 33 games and scored double digits 29 times. He produced six double-doubles, including 23 points and 13 rebounds in a 70-68 win at St. John's on November 16 as he hit the game-winning shot in the final seconds. He also racked up 30 points at defending national champion Virginia and became the fourth player to drop 30 points on the Cavaliers at JPJ Arena during the Tony Bennett era. In the career ranks, he finished fifth on the all-time scoring list (1,933), fifth in blocks, seventh in scoring average (16.4), and eighth in rebounds (765). Lamb is the ninth America East player to hit the 1,900-point/750-rebound milestone.
Smith was an America East First Team All-Conference honoree after finishing second on the team with 14.2 points per game. He led the league with a 42.3% clip from downtown, plus a 49.4% mark in conference play. The guard from Ajax, Ontario buried 80 triples, tied for second in America East. He made at least three treys in 14 games, including five three-pointers against Central Connecticut State, Rider, and Towson. Smith had 26 games with at least 10 points and tallied seven 20-point performances. He logged a team-best 85 assists and 35 steals. In UVM's America East Quarterfinal win over Maine, he became the 41st Catamount to score over 1,000 career points.
Becker has won the NABC All-District I Coach of the Year award for the third straight year. He has also collected America East Coach of the Year honors in each of the last four seasons, the first coach to accomplish the feat in league history. He guided the Catamounts to a 26-7 overall record, the third-highest single-season win total in school history. The Cats boasted a 14-2 mark in league play and became the first team in America East history to capture four straight outright regular season conference titles. The Green and Gold claimed their record-setting eighth America East crown and third in the last four years. The Catamounts are one of seven programs to register 12 straight 20-win seasons – Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, and St. Mary's.
National Life Group is the presenting sponsor of Vermont men's basketball
2019-20 ALL-DISTRICT I
Coach of the Year: John Becker, Vermont
First Team
Anthony Lamb, Vermont
Jalen Pickett, Siena
E.J. Crawford, Iona
Elijah Olaniyi, Stony Brook
Dimencio Vaughn, Rider
Second Team
Christian Lutete, UMass Lowell
Malik Ellison, Hartford
Ray Salnave, Monmouth
Stef Smith, Vermont
Deion Hammond, Monmouth
