LANCASTER, Pa. – A trio of Ursinus College men's basketball stars earned All-Centennial Conference recognition, their just reward for leading the Bears to another playoff appearance.
Senior Eric Williams Jr. capped his tremendous career with a first team selection, while junior Ryan McTamney was picked to the second team and classmate Shane Stark received honorable mention. The group represented the top three scorers and top two rebounders for the Bears, who reached the conference semifinals for the third year in a row.
An honorable mention All-CC performer as a sophomore, Williams enjoyed a historic final campaign in which he became the Centennial's all-time leader in 3-point field goals with 313, leading the league in both total triples (88) and 3-point percentage (43.8). At season's end, the sharp-shooter ranked among the top-25 in Division III in 3-pointers, and his 90.5-percent free-throw shooting places him 13th in the nation.
The conference leader in minutes per game (33.8), Williams is third in the CC in scoring at 16.2 points per game. He posted five games of 25-plus points, including 30-point outings in victories over conference champion Swarthmore as well as Muhlenberg; Williams also dropped 31 against then-No. 5 Hamilton. He hit at least five 3-pointers nine times, highlighted by a 10-trey outburst at the expense of the Mules. Williams finished his remarkable career with 1,335 points.
McTamney is an all-conference honoree for the first time following another breakout season in which he led the Bears and ranked second in the CC in scoring at 17.1 points per game. The junior wing reached double figures in all but three games, which included nine contests of 20 points or more.
Showcasing an expanded repertoire, McTamney was second on the team in rebounding (5.9 RPG) and posted a pair of double-doubles. He had a monster game in a win at Gettysburg, pairing 14 points with 18 rebounds, and collected 17 points and 10 boards in the CC semifinals against Johns Hopkins. McTamney will enter his senior season just 71 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
Stark, fittingly, joined his classmate and former high school teammate on the All-CC roster for the first time. The junior averaged a career-high 10.2 points per game and led the Bears with 6.1 rebounds per game, registering two double-doubles on the year.
One of the Bears' best passers, Stark ranked second team at 2.8 assists per game and had five games with at least four dimes. He was third on the squad with 13 blocks and made 66.1 percent of his free throws, a vast improvement over his 45.2-percent clip from a year ago; Stark sunk 35 of his last 44 from the charity stripe, a 79.8 percent success rate.
The Bears finished with an overall record of 15-11. They posted a 12-6 mark in conference play and earned the third seed in the CC tournament, falling 67-60 to Johns Hopkins.
Additionally, junior Jake O'Neil was named to the All-Sportsmanship Team. O'Neil plans on graduating a year early and taking a full-time job in Princeton.