FILE PHOTO
Lynn native Marcos Echevarria named the 2016-2017 Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Year earlier this week.
By KATIE MORRISON
Lynn native Marcos Echevarria was named the 2016-17 Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Year Monday thanks to his play with the Nichols College mens basketball team.
Echevarria finished his sophomore season as the CCC’s leading scorer, and his 23.4 points per game average makes him one of the top-10 scorers in all of Division III basketball. He hit 115 three-pointers, which leads the nation in all divisions.
He ranks second in the CCC in free-throw percentage, hitting 88 percent from the stripe. He was also the conference leader in steals with 57, averaging 2.3 steals per game, and was second in assists with 107 (4.3 assists per game). Echevarria became the 28th player in Nichols history to score his 1000th point, a mark he reached last month.
Echevarria scored 19 points and collected six assists, four steals and three rebounds in the Bisons’ 86-69 win over the University of New England to end the regular season Saturday. Echevarria led all scorers with nine first-half points. The Bisons finished 20-5 overall and 15-3 in the conference to earn a share of the CCC title.
Echevarria was named the CCC Player of the Week on two occasions this year and was the USBWA Division III National Player of the Week for the week ending Jan. 29.
Also being recognized by the CCC is Endicott men’s basketball head coach Kevin Bettencourt of Peabody.
In his third season at the helm of the Gulls’ squad, Bettencourt led his team to a 20-5 overall (15-3 CCC) record and earned a share of the CCC Regular-Season Championship. Endicott heads into the conference tournament as the league’s second-highest scoring offense (80.1 ppg), while allowing the league’s second-lowest point total on defense (68.5). Earlier this year, the Gulls received some national recognition as they entered the D3hoops.com Top-25, peaking at No. 20. Bettencourt will be looking for his third straight CCC title since taking over in 2014-15.
Also recognized were Salve Regina’s Nicholas Bates, of Danvers, who made the conference second team, and his teammate Rodney Morton, of Malden, was named to the third team.
