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Date: March 1, 2006
Contact: Bill Sodoma
Basketball player Cohen named NESCAC Defensive Player of Year
WATERVILLE, Maine --- After averaging nearly five blocked shots per game, Colby College junior center Drew Cohen (Hackley School/Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) was named the New England Small College Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday.
Cohen also was one of five players to earn league first team honors by a vote of the league coaches.
Cohen leads NCAA Division III in blocked shots per game (4.83) and total blocks (111). There are just four players in the country with 100 blocks or more this season and just one other player, 7-foot-1 center Kerry Gibson of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, averages four blocks or more.
Besides leading the NESCAC in blocks, Cohen also ranks first in the league in rebounding (10.7) and second in scoring (19.7). His rebounding total puts him tied for 11th nationally.
Cohen earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors twice during the regular season. He shot 48 percent from the field and was a solid 70 percent (141-for-201) from the foul line despite shooting more than 200 free throws.
Cohen heads into his senior season next year poised to become the 32nd Colby player in team history to go over 1,000 career points. He has 840 points, 463 rebounds and 203 blocked shots in his career despite missing eight games over his first three years.
Cohen's defense helped Colby (11-14) finish first this year in the league in field goal percentage defense at .396.
NESCAC All-Conference Team
First Team: John Bedford, Amherst, senior guard; Drew Cohen, Colby, junior center; Dan Martin, Tufts, senior center; Kyle Petrie, Bowdoin, senior forward; Tyler Rhoten, Trinity, senior forward;
Second Team: Andrew Olson, Amherst, sophomore guard; Zak Ray, Bates, junior guard; Chris Rose, Williams, sophomore forward; Rob Stockwell, Bates, junior forward; Dan Wheeler, Amherst, junior forward;
Player of the Year: Tyler Rhoten, Trinity; Defensive Player of the Year: Drew Cohen, Colby; Rookie of the Year: Ben Rudin, Middlebury; Coach of the Year: Joe Reilly, Bates
