Basketball (Men's)
Pace is finalist for Bob Cousy Award
By
Feb 2, 2006, 19:15

[Vote for Sheldon Pace] [Sheldon Pace for Bob Cousy Award]

[Hall of Fame Release]

Sheldon Pace is only one of two from NCAA Division II nominated for the award.

SPRINGFIELD, MA. ... Showing that he has been one of the top point guards in the nation for, Sheldon Pace will now have a chance to be given that award as he has been named a finalist for the prestigous Bob Cousy award presented by THE HARTFORD. Pace is one of 16 finalist for the award for NCAA Division I, II, and III point guards.

"First of all, we are happy to see the Lord has blessed Sheldon with this honor. It's an outstanding honor and players like him are very special because they don't come around too often," says SBU head coach Jeff Guiot. "SBU is blessed to have a player of his caliber. The great thing about Sheldon is he always put the team first."

Pace is the second MIAA player in three years to be a finalist for the Bob Cousy award as Kelvin Parker from Northwest Missouri State was a finalist in 2004. This is the third year for the Bob Cousy award.

One of the criteria for winning the award is fan participation. The Basketball Hall of Fame has set up a website for fans to vote for their favorite player. To vote for Pace, go to http://www.cousyaward.com The poll is on the right side of the page to vote for your favorite player.

Currently third in the NCAA Division II in assists with an average of 9.1 per game, Pace needs just six assists to break the SBU record for assists in a single season. Ernest Hall holds the record with 201 from the 1990-91 season. He is also third on the all-time SBU career list in assists with 366. Tony Worlds holds the second spot with 488 assists. Pace is also fifth all-time in steals with 116 and is 20th in the nation in steals (2.6 pg). He is also 72nd in the nation in field goal percentage at 53.1%.

In the MIAA, he has been named the "Player of the Week", twice, this seasn and is leading the MIAA in assists and steals per game along with being 9th in scoring (13.2 ppg) and 4th in field goal percentage (.533). He recorded his fifth double-double of the year against Missouri Southern (2/1/06) with 10 rebounds and 14 assists. It was the sixth game this season that he came close to a triple-double.

He has guided SBU to a last second win over Emporia State on January 28 when he drove the floor for the game winning layup as time expired. It was his second game winning shot for SBU in his two years as a Bearcat. SBU has been ranked as high as #4 in the nation and is currently #11. They started off the season 14-0 for the best start in the history of the University and are currently 19-2 and 8-2 in the MIAA. They moved into the #1 position in the South Central Region this week with an 11-2 in region record.

There are 15 other finalist for the Bob Cousy award presented by THE HARTFORD. There are 12 NCAA Division I finalists, two from NCAA Division II, and two from NCAA Division III vying for the award.

Here is the breakdown of the finalist: