Jobst, Brooks Claim Major Awards On All-MASCAC Men's Basketball Team

Westfield, MA --- Senior Dane Jobst (Athol, MA) and junior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) underscore both Worcester State honorees on the All-MASCAC Men's Basketball Team as announced by conference publicist Emily Diekelmann.

Jobst was also the top pick by the leagues head coaches as the MASCAC Player of the Year and he received the top spot on the First-Team while freshman Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) was recognized as the MASCAC Rookie of the Year. Rios earned the nod on the Second-Team for the Lancers.

For helping spark an 8-4 conference mark, a third place finish in the league standings and a first-round home game, Jobst has been an instrumental piece in his second full season at power forward with the Lancers since transferring from St. Joseph's College (Vermont).

With 18 double-doubles in 25 contests, Jobst has boasted 16.6 points per game and he has topped the conference with 13.4 rebounds per contest. He has also shot .455 percent from the field, .352 from beyond the arc (25-for-71) and .669 at the charity stripe.

Among MASCAC leaders he is fourth in the conference in scoring and he is among the top 15 in all three shooting percentage categories. Nationally, Jobst entered the week ranked second overall in the NCAA Division III average boards and fourth in total caroms (323) while he was one of seven student-athletes nationally with as many double-doubles.

In his first season at center for the Lancers, Brooks has impressed both defensively and offensively. With the third-highest field goal percentage (.506), he has averaged 7.4 points and 5.2 caroms in 25 games.

Brooks also tops the conference with 50 blocks while his 1.96 blocks per game was fifth in the nation among first-year student-athletes and ranked 55th in Division III.  

In 12 MASCAC contests, Brooks collected six double-digit efforts including game-highs in league wins against Salem State and Fitchburg State at home.  He has been recognized by the conference office as the top Rookie of the Week on four occasions during the winter.

Rios, who also matriculated from St. Joseph's in his first campaign with the Blue and Gold, is second in the squad with 16.0 points per game to go along with a .438 clip from the floor, .368 percent from downtown and 4.4 rebounds in 25 games.

Starting primarily at strong forward and shooting guard, Rios has been deadly from three-point land with 56 made trifectas on the campaign tying for the second most trey's made in the MASCAC.

Rios has also been key in conference games averaging 17.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and connected on nearly half of his shots (.456) in 12 league contests.

Former WSU standout Rob Ashton was the last MASCAC Player of the Year honoree during the 1994-95 campaign while Francisco Lalovett is the last conference Rookie of the Year (98-99).

Under the direction of 20th year head coach Dave Lindberg, the Blue and Gold have won nine of their last 10 contests and gone 11-4 since the semester break.

The third-seeded Lancers, who defeated #6 Framingham State in the league tournament quarterfinals, head to second-seed Bridgewater State in the semifinals tonight at 7:30 PM. The victor will play either #1 Salem State or fifth-seeded MCLA in the title game for all of the marbles on Saturday afternoon.

2013-14 All-MASCAC Men's Basketball Team

 You can follow the Worcester State Lancers on Facebook and Twitter