BOSTON, Mass. – Three members of the UMass Lowell men's basketball team have garnered 2023-24 America East All-Conference accolades, as announced by the league office on Thursday.
Senior
Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) became the third River Hawk ever named to the America East All-Conference First Team, as well as earning his third consecutive nod for the league's All-Defensive Team. Additionally, seniors
Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) and
Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.) were named to the All-Conference Second Team. Rounding out the awards, Mincey was also named the Sixth Man of the Year, marking the second ever America East major award for the UMass Lowell program after Head Coach
Pat Duquette earned Coach of the Year honors in 2022-23.
"I am extremely happy for and proud of our three, well-deserved award winners," said Duquette. "Max, Quinton and Ayinde proved themselves to be amongst the 10 best players in a very talented conference, while helping our program achieve back-to-back 20-win seasons. Yuri (Covington), Cam (Morris III) and Brayden (O'Connor) all had their share of all-league performances, as well, while equally impacting our team's success."
Brooks is a force down low for the River Hawks, not just as a premier shot blocker, but also as an incredibly effective shooter. Brooks, who totals six double-doubles in 2023-24, paces his squad with 7.5 rebounds per game and is third with 13.1 points per game. He also boasts a career-high 62 blocks so far to rank 19
th in the nation with 2.1 blocks per game. The big man is shooting 63.2% from the field, good for 11
th nationally, as well. Additionally, Brooks totals 23 steals and 43 assists so far in 2023-24. He had a career day at UMBC on February 8, setting new personal bests for points (31), field goals (14) and rebounds (19). Brooks and Zach Edey of Purdue are the only players in the country who have 30+ points, 19+ rebounds and 3+ blocks in a single game this season. The senior also surpassed the 1,000 career points milestone with 29 points against UAlbany on Feb. 24.
Hikim paces the River Hawks with an average of 14.8 points per game this season and adds 4.1 rebounds per game, as well. With 152 assists so far this year, he not only becomes the eighth River Hawk in program history to log back-to-back 100+ assist seasons, but also sets a new Division I program record, surpassing the previous single-season high of 143 (Jahad Thomas, 2016-17). The guard, who also paces the team with 54 steals in 2023-24, surpassed 1,000 career points earlier this season at Stonehill on November 29. Hikim logged seven, 20-point games during the regular season and dished out a season-high nine assists against UMBC on January 13. This marks Hikim's first America East All-Conference selection.
Mincey established himself as an elite sixth man at the start of the conference season, averaging a team-best 18.6 points per game during the America East slate to rank sixth in the league. Overall, he is second on the team with 14.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game this season. A 51% shooter from the floor, he is also second on the team with 37 three-point field goals so far. Mincey has also come up big for the River Hawks at the foul line in 2023-24, ranking third in the America East with a 77.8 free throw percentage. The forward has rewritten his own personal bests over and over this year, most recently setting benchmarks of 26 points and five threes against Bryant on Feb. 29. He totals seven, 20-point games and four double-doubles this season with a personal-best 12 rebounds on two occasions. This marks Mincey's first All-Conference selection, as well.
The River Hawks will host No. 7 UMBC in the opening round of the 2024 Jersey Mike's America East Playoffs on Saturday, March 9 at 3 p.m. at Costello Athletic Center.
