FREELAND, MICH. -- The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association released its All-Conference Team for men's basketball today (Tuesday, Mar. 9) which featured three Trine University players. Additionally, junior Nick Bowman (Angola, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) was named the MIAA "Most Valuable Player" and freshman Emmanuel Megnanglo (Cotonou, Benin/Amelia Academy) was selected as the "Defensive Player of the Year."
It marks the second time that Trine has had two players named both the offensive and defensive "MVP." Pete Smith (Offensive MVP) and Marcus Winters (Defensive MVP) were the last to do it during the 2018-19 season.
Bowman was also named first-team All-MIAA along with sophomore forward Brent Cox (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble). Junior Bryce Williams (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) garnered second-team honors.
As a team, the Thunder captured their first MIAA Tournament Championship and recorded its first undefeated season in the NCAA era with a 17-0 record.
Bowman led the league in scoring (22.2 points per game), field goals (44-of-77), steals (59) and was second in assists (51), but led the conference in helpers in MIAA games (23). Bowman scored in double figures in all but one game with 11 games of 20 or more points and two games of 30 or more points, including a career-high 35-point effort against Olivet (Mich.) College on Feb. 13. Bowman earned MIAA "Athlete of the Week" three times this season and was named to the D3hoops.com "Team of the Week" twice.
Cox finished second on the team in scoring at 14.0 ppg. in 17 games. He shot 52.0 percent (90-of-173) from the floor and 48.6 percent (17-of-35) from three-point range. He scored in double figures in 14 games during the year with a career-high effort of 23 points against Hope (Mich.) College on Feb. 20. He tallied 21 points in the tournament title game against Albion which included the go-ahead points on a three-point play en route to the victory. Cox led the team in rebounding at 5.2 boards per game and also tallied 22 assists, 14 steals and nine blocks.
Williams started all 17 games and finished third on the team in scoring at 10.5 ppg. while shooting 45.7 percent from the floor (59-of-129). He led the team, and finished second in the MIAA, in three-point shooting with 41 makes and 94 attempts. Williams scored in double figures in 11 games that included a career-best 19 points against Olivet (Feb. 13) highlighted by a career-high six triples. He tied Bowman for second on the team in assists this season with 51 in addition to averaging 2.7 rpg. and had 23 steals defensively.
Mengnanglo becomes the youngest Trine player to earn MIAA Defensive "MVP" honors after leading both the team and the MIAA in blocks with 29 and averaged 1.7 blocks per game. He had a single-game high of six blocks against Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) University and then had a four-block effort against Calvin (Mich.) University in a MIAA Tournament game on Mar. 4. Mengnanglo finished second behind Cox in team rebounding with 4.6 rpg. and averaged 5.9 ppg. on 55.4 percent shooting (46-of-83). He recorded a season-high 12 points in the team's first matchup against Olivet on Jan. 23.