ROCK HILL, S.C. – On the eve of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament semifinals and championship tilt, the Anderson University men's basketball team saw a trio of players capture All-Conference honors as announced by the league office, Thursday morning.

Senior Shawn Benard and junior Quin Nottingham garnered Second Team All-SAC recognition, while Crosby James II was named SAC Freshman of the Year.

Benard started all 28 games of the regular season and played an incredible career-high 55 minutes in the Trojans' triple overtime win at Erskine in mid-November, while averaged nearly 39 minutes per game over the course of the season. He averaged a career-high 16.5 points per contest this season, while scoring a career-high 30 points at Lenoir-Rhyne in early February.

The native of Mobile, Ala., owns the school record for assists in a season and dished out at least five assists on 13 occasions, while ranking second in the league and leading the Trojans with 5.1 assists per game. The 5-foot-11 guard was also second on the squad with more than five rebounds per contest. Benard ranks 12th all-time in the school record books with 1,120 career points after reaching double figures in 27 games, while scoring at least 20 points on seven occasions. He posted two double-doubles and earned SAC Player of the Week accolades on Dec. 9 after helping lead the Trojans to a 75-71 win over Carson-Newman. He poured in 29 points, while hauling in 10 rebounds with four assists, two steals and a block in the victory. He shot 52.4 percent from the floor, while hitting 42.9 percent from three-point range.

Nottingham also started every regular-season game and ranked third in the SAC, while leading the Trojans with 20.0 points per game. The Champaign, Ill., native was third in the league with his 88.4 percent free throw accuracy and was third on the team with 4.8 rebounds per game.

In his first season wearing the Black and Gold, Nottingham notched double-figure scoring in 27 games and reached the 30-point plateau four times, while pouring in a career-high 38 points against Coker on Feb. 19. Nottingham was named the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week in early February after averaging 25 points, seven rebounds and 2.5 steals, while going 14-of-31 (45.2%) from the field in wins over No. 17 Queens and Carson-Newman. He scored 13 points over the final 86 seconds, including the tying 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining, and the buzzer-beating 75-foot game-winning shot, to lead the Trojans back from an eight-point deficit with less than four minutes on the clock in AU's 75-72 win over the Eagles.

James saw action in 26 regular-season contests and averaged more than 26 minutes per game over the final 13 games of the regular season. The Columbia, S.C., native was third on the team with 12.8 points per game, while netting a season-high 27 points against both Catawba and Mars Hill. The newcomer pulled down a career high 10 rebounds in the regular-season finale against Lincoln Memorial.

A prolific shooter, James owned a 53 percent shooting accuracy during the season, including a 45.4 percentage from beyond the arc. He garnered SAC Player of the Week recognition in late January, after helping lead the Trojans to wins over Catawba and UVa-Wise.

James averaged 26.5 points per game for the week on 17-of-23 (73.9%) shooting from the field, including 8-of-9 (88.9%) accuracy from beyond the arc. After coming off the bench to net a then-career high 24 points against Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 18, the 6-foot guard poured in a career-best, game-high 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting and went a perfect 5-of-5 from beyond the arc in AU's, 92-91, road win over Catawba. He followed up by scoring a game-high 26 points in the Trojans' win over the Cavaliers. He was 9-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-4 from long range.

Lincoln Memorial guard Courvoisier McCauley was voted the Men's Basketball Player of the Year, while teammate Cameron Henry was voted the Conference's Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, Lincoln Memorial head coach Josh Schertz was tabbed as the Coach of the Year.

McCauley, a sophomore from Indianapolis, Ind., ranks second in the SAC in points per game and field goal percentage, averaging 20.5 points per game, while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor. He also averages 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists and 1.2 assists per game. He won SAC AstroTurf Player of the Week honors three times during the season and helped lead the Railsplitters to a SAC and team record 30 consecutive victories. In addition to being named Player of the Year, McCauley is also a first team All-SAC selection.

Henry, a sophomore guard from Chesterfield, Va., is one of the top defenders in the SAC, leading the league in defensive rebounds with 7.18 per game. He is second in the conference in total rebounds, averaging 8.2 rebounds per game, and he leads the SAC in steals per game at 2.2. Henry also averages 14 points and 3.7 assists per game. In addition to being named Defensive Player of the Year, Henry is also a second team All-SAC honoree.

Schertz led the Railsplitters to their eighth SAC Regular Season title in the last 10 years this season, while compiling a record of 30-1 overall. He also guided his team to their third undefeated conference record in the last five years, going 22-0 in league play. Currently, Lincoln Memorial is riding a 30-game winning stream, the longest streak among all levels of NCAA basketball. This is Schertz's seventh time being named SAC Coach of the Year.

In addition to McCauley, Queens' Daniel Carr received First Team honors, along with Lincoln Memorial's Devin Whitfield, Catawba's Devin Cooper, Mars Hill's Ja'Shawn Brooks, and Lenoir-Rhyne's R.J. Gunn.

2019-20 All-South Atlantic Conference
First Team
Courvoisier McCauley, Lincoln Memorial
Daniel Carr, Queens
Devin Whitfield, Lincoln Memorial
Devin Cooper, Catawba
Ja'Shawn Brooks, Mars Hill
R.J. Gunn, Lenoir-Rhyne

Second Team
Quin Nottingham, Anderson
Shawn Benard, Anderson
Angelo Sales Jr., Newberry
Cameron Henry, Lincoln Memorial
Cameron Whiteside, UVa-Wise
Anthony Brown, Lincoln Memorial

Honorable Mention
Marcell Haskett, Catawba
Jarren Cottingham, Wingate
Darius Simmons, Lenoir-Rhyne
Jamari Smith, Queens
Trenton Gibson, Tusculum
Van Turner Jr., Queens

All-Freshman
Crosby James II, Anderson
Gavin Rains, Queens
Cooper Fowler, Lenoir-Rhyne
Zim Field, Lenoir-Rhyne
Joshua Scott, Tusculum

Player of the Year
Courvoisier McCauley, Lincoln Memorial

Freshman of the Year
Crosby James II, Anderson

Defensive Player of the Year
Cameron Henry, Lincoln Memorial

Coach of the Year
Josh Schertz, Lincoln Memorial

Statistical Champions
Points Per Game – Cameron Whiteside, UVa-Wise, 20.8
Three-Pointers Per Game – Van Turner Jr. Queens, 3.32
Rebounds Per Game – Angelo Sales Jr., Newberry, 8.7
Blocked Shots Per Game – Nassyr Daniel, Mars Hill, 2.21
Field Goal Percentage – Devin Whitfield, Lincoln Memorial, 52.4
Assists Per Game – Anthony Brown, Lincoln Memorial, 5.6
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio – Anthony Brown, Lincoln Memorial, 3.32
Steals Per Game – Cameron Henry, Lincoln Memorial, 2.17
Three-Point Field Goal Percentage – Luke Gibson, Newberry, 45.9
Free Throw Percentage – Austin Gilyard, Mars Hill, 88.5
Team Scoring Offense – Lincoln Memorial, 93.7
Team Steals – Tusculum, 268
Team Field Goal Percentage – Lincoln Memorial, 52.1
Team FG Percentage Defense – Lincoln Memorial, 37.2
Team Assists – Lincoln Memorial, 580
Team Rebounds – Tusculum, 1,223
Team Blocked Shots – Lincoln Memorial, 126
Team Three-Point FG Percentage – Lincoln Memorial, 41.5
Team Scoring Defense – Lincoln Memorial, 70.2
Team Free Throw Percentage – Mars Hill, 79.3
Team Assist-to-Turnover Ratio – Lincoln Memorial, 1.51