DUDLEY — Nichols men’s basketball guard Marcos Echevarria came into his junior season in November with high aspirations. Now it’s February and Echevarria’s goals are coming to fruition as the Bison contend for another Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament crown.
Echevarria, a Lynn native, was named the CCC Player of the Year when the conference released its awards earlier this week. This marks the second consecutive season he has earned the award. The D3Hoops.com Preseason All-American is the first player since Colby-Sawyer’s Andrew St. Clair to repeat as the conference player of the year in 2005 and 2006.
“I was a bit surprised,” said Echevarria, who went to St. Mark’s. “The CCC was very competitive this year. I thought two other guys were ahead of me. It truly is an honor to have the coaches and conference recognize me as the best player in the CCC for the second year in a row. I was surprised. I really have to credit my teammates and Coach (Tom) Glynn for allowing me to succeed.”
Through 27 games, Echevarria has averaged of 35.8 minutes, 26 points, 5 assists and 3.9 rebounds per contest while shooting 42 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from the 3-point line. He’s the leading scorer for the Bison, who are 23-3 this season.
“Marcos had another great season for us,” said Glynn. “This past season he transitioned to playing point guard full-time after playing about half the games at that position last season. His leadership and ability to run our team and get his teammates scoring opportunities allowed for our team to go 24-3. He has truly establish himself as one of the best players in the country.”
Echevarria isn’t the only member of the Nichols program to bring home a major conference award. Glynn, in his fourth season at the helm of the program, was named CCC Coach of the Year.
“It was well deserved,” Echevarria said. “Coach Glynn puts in a lot of work and late nights studying film and preparing gameplans. He works hard day in and day out. It’s very well deserved for him. He’s led two young teams, this year and last year, to the great seasons we’ve had.”
The Bison finished their regular season at 24-3 and earned the top seed in the conference tournament. They opened the tournament with a 100-68 win over No. 8 Western New England Tuesday night.
In the semifinal round Thursday night, Nichols defeated No. 4 Roger Williams, 89-75, to cement its place in Saturday’s championship game against Endicott. The Bison are riding a 10-game win streak.
“We embraced having a target on our back,” Echevarria said. “The conference has been so competitive this year. We knew every team would give its best shot, no matter what. We’ve stayed together and played our gritty defense, getting on the fastbreak and earning transition points. That’s the type of basketball that has been beneficial to us this year.”
Last season, Nichols won the conference tournament with victories over New England in the quarterfinal, Wentworth in the semifinal and Endicott in the championship game. With the tournament crown, the Bison earned a bid in the Division III NCAA Tournament. Echevarria hopes that last season’s experience will pay dividends for this year’s team.
“I think that’s going to help us this year,” Echevarria said. “Our whole starting five has been to the CCC Championship and the NCAA Tournament. That’s going to help us whether it’s in late-game situations or early-game situations. You can’t really teach that. The experience we have is going to be very helpful.”
As Echevarria leads the Bison toward another tournament push, his younger brother, Jalen, is shouldering the same task at St. Mary’s. A junior guard, Jalen’s closing in the 1,000-point milestone as the Spartans aim for a run in the Division 3 state tournament. St. Mary’s finished the regular season 17-3.
Echevarria maintains a close relationship with his younger brother as the two stay in touch throughout their respective seasons.
“We’re talking after every game,” Echevarria said. “During the winter break, I go to his practices and work out with him. We’re very close in that aspect. I try to correct some of the things I see and I try to fine-tune his game. I’m really proud he’s approaching 1,000 points. He’s been undersized his whole life, but he works hard. I tell him not to think about that 1,000 points too much so that it doesn’t affect his game. I’m just very happy for him.”
