HCAC Honors Four Yellow Jackets, Names Sales MVP

GREENWOOD, Ind. – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference announced its 2010 All-HCAC honors on Tuesday, with DC's Nick Sales earning Player-of-the-Year honors and Mike Floyd, Anthony Brown and Logan Wolfrum also being named as All-HCAC selections. [HCAC Release]

The accolades come in the midst of Defiance's winningest season since joining the NCAA Division III ranks and adds yet another highlight in what has been one of the finest campaigns in the 105 year history of the Yellow Jacket program.

Defiance boasts a sparkling, 23-5, overall clip as it prepares to enter the NCAA National Tournament for the first time since 2001. The 23 victories are a D-III record for DC and mark the fourth-straight year that the Jackets have racked up at least 17 wins. Defiance has gone 77-31 during that time for the third-highest winning percentage among all D-III men's basketball programs in the state of Ohio in the past four seasons.

The list of achievements from this year also include scoring a pair of victories over nationally-ranked opponents, recording the 1,300th win in program history, claiming the 2010 HCAC Tournament Championship and securing a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in school history.

While all of those accomplishments were done as a team, Sales, Floyd, Brown and Wolfrum have stood apart with their individual statistics. The quartet has combined to average 48.3 points a night, while scoring nearly 60 percent of the team's points on the year.

Nick Sales has led the way all season, as the senior forward was voted as the league's Player of the Year by averaging 15.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game for the Yellow Jackets. The three-time All-HCAC performer excelled in conference action, leading the league in steals (34), ranking second in points (249), rebounds (134) and field goal percentage (58.9%) and finishing 10th in assists (43) in 16 contests. Sales has also earned spots on the John Dawson and Purple and Gold All-Tournament Teams, while netting MVP honors of the HCAC Tournament. The Barberton, Ohio, native was named as the HCAC Player of the Week on January 25 and netted a spot on the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week on February 22. Sales currently ranks first in DC's history with a career 60.7 field goal percentage, second with 79 blocks, fourth with 818 rebounds and 17th with 1,356 points.

Mike Floyd earned his fourth-straight All-HCAC award after leading the league in assists for the fourth time in as many years. Floyd has dished out four-or-more assists in 20 of his 24 games this season, and will enter the NCAA Tournament ranking 23rd in the nation with 5.5 helpers per outing. Along with his outstanding ability to set up scores for his teammates, the senior point guard has filled the net with 11.0 points to go with 1.6 steals per night. The Toledo, Ohio, native remained steady throughout the grueling 16-game HCAC schedule by leading all players with 5.1 assists a night, while ranking second with a 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio, fourth with 1.6 steals per game and 22nd with 11.2 points. Floyd was named the MVP of the Purple and Gold and the Dominoes New Year's Classic Tournaments and currently sits second in DC history with 499 assists.

Anthony Brown was named Honorable Mention All-HCAC after providing Defiance with a steady scoring threat throughout his sophomore campaign. The sweet-shooting guard has started all but two games this season for the Yellow Jackets and has set single-season career highs with 315 points and 37 three-point field goals made through his first 28 games of the year. The Glenview, Ill., native is currently second on the squad with 11.3 points per night behind a 36.6-percent clip from beyond the arc and led all HCAC players with a 91.7-percent rate from the charity stripe during league action. Brown was outstanding during DC's run to the HCAC Tournament Championship, averaging 14.7 points in the three wins to earn a spot on the HCAC All-Tournament Team.

Logan Wolfrum burst onto the collegiate scene with a pair of 20-point games to open the season and has gone on to average 10.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game en route to being named Honorable Mention All-HCAC. The Defiance, Ohio, native's fast start netted the first of two HCAC Player-of-the-Week awards and a spot on the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week. Wolfrum was also named as the John Dawson Invitational MVP and was voted to the six-man HCAC All-Tournament Team. Wolfrum leads Defiance with 51 made trifectas and a 41.5-percent rate from three-point territory this season and has seen the Jackets go 18-2 in games when he has put up at least six shot attempts.

Sales, Floyd, Brown and Wolfrum will look to extend the 2009-2010 season on Friday, March 5, when they lead Defiance into the opening round of the NCAA National Tournament. DC will take on No. 8 UW-Whitewater in a 6:00 pm tip in the College of Wooster's Timken Gymnasium.