• GNAC Awards Release (pdf)
      • VIDEO: Cory  Hutsen

SPOKANE, Wash. – Forward Cory Hutsen was voted the Freshman of the Year and his Seattle Pacific teammates David Downs and Andy Poling were first-team, all-league selections when the 2012 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball awards were announced Monday.

Hutsen is averaging 6.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for the 24th-ranked Falcons (21-6), who finished third in the final regular-season standings with a 13-5 conference record. The 6-foot-8 product of Skyline High School in Sammamish, Wash., is shooting 53.4 percent from the field (71 of 133).

"It's great to see that Cory has been recognized for the contribution he's made as a player in his first year. We have high expectations for him as his career continues and it's nice to see that our peers probably fee the same way about him too," said third-year SPU coach Ryan Looney.

A red-shirt last year, Hutsen played all 27 games this season and moved into the starting lineup on Jan. 26. He has produced 10 double-figure scoring games.

"We thought after watching him in practice last year that he would have a chance to make an impact for us this season," Looney said. "It's nice that he's been able to, because we needed somebody to give us a little bit of scoring in that spot."



Hutsen is the second consecutive GNAC freshman of the year from SPU as Downs received that honor in 2011.

A 6-foot-2 sophomore point guard from Bellevue (Wash.) Christian High School, Downs leads the team with 15.4 points per game. He reached the 100-assist plateau for the second straight season with 102.

Downs ranks No. 11 nationally in free throw accuracy at 89.1 percent (123 of 138) and converted 44.8 percent (64 of 143) of his 3-point attempts.

A 6-foot-11 center, Poling (Portland, Ore.) transferred from Gonzaga prior to the 2010-11 season. He leads the Falcons with six double-doubles and 7.4 rebounds per game while scoring at a 15.1-point clip.

"It's great that Dave and Andy have been recognized for the seasons that they've had. It's even more special that we'll have them back again next year," Looney exclaimed.

The two Falcons are the only non-seniors on the six-man All-GNAC first team that includes Taylor Rohde (Alaska Anchorage), Rory Blanche (Western Washington), Antoine Proctor (Montana State Billings) and Blair Wheadon (Western Oregon).

Rohde received the league's Player of the Year honor and Proctor the Newcomer of the Year award. Brad Jackson of Western Washington was named the Coach of the Year.

SPU enters the GNAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed and has a quarterfinal clash on Wednesday with No. 6 Central Washington (14-12). Tip-off is 5:15 p.m. at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash.

The winner of that contest meets No. 2 seed Alaska Anchorage in the semifinals on Friday at noon. Both men's and women's GNAC Tournaments will be conducted at Saint Martin's.

Wednesday's other men's quarterfinal pairing features No. 4 Western Oregon against No. 5 Montana State Billings at 7:30 p.m.

The GNAC Tournament winner receives the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Six teams compete in the conference tournament with first-place Western Washington and second-place Anchorage receiving first-round byes.

Saturday's GNAC men's championship game will be televised live throughout the region at 5:15 p.m. on RootSports.


2012 GNAC MEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS
Player of the Year -- Taylor Rohde, Alaska Anchorage
Freshman of the Year -- Cory  Hutsen, Seattle Pacific
Newcomer of the Year -- Antoine Proctor, Montana State Billings
Coach of the Year -- Brad Jackson, Western Washington

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
(+Unanimous pick,  *Repeat selection)

First Team
+Rory Blanche, Western Washington (F, 6-6, Sr., Ashland, OR)
David  Downs, Seattle Pacific (G, 6-2, So., Kirkland, WA)
Andy  Poling, Seattle Pacific (C, 6-11, Jr., Portland, OR)
Antoine Proctor, Montana State Billings (G, 6-3, Sr., Washington, DC)
*+Taylor Rohde, Alaska Anchorage (C, 6-9, Sr., Phoenix, AZ)
Blair Wheadon, Western Oregon (G, 6-3, Sr., Junction City, OR)

Second Team
John Allen, Western Washington (G, 6-0, Jr., Mountlake Terrace, WA)
Justin Brown, Simon Fraser (G, 5-11, Sr., Vallejo, CA)
Jeremy Green, Saint Martin's (F, 6-6, Sr., Kent, WA
Lacy Haddock, Central Washington (G, 6-1, So., Las Vegas, NV)
Travis Thompson, Alaska Anchorage (G, 6-1, So., Anchorage, AK)

Honorable Mention
Anthony Golden, Northwest Nazarene (G, 6-1, Sr., Portland, OR)
Jonathan Hawkins, Northwest Nazarene (G, 6-3, Jr., Phoenix, AZ)
Jody Johnson, Central Washington (F, 6-4, Sr., Seattle, WA)
Kyle Long, Western Oregon (G, 6-3, Sr., McMinnville, OR)
Nico Matthews, Alaska Fairbanks (G, 6-1, Sr., Twenty Nine Palms, CA)
Jaxon Myaer, Montana State Billings (G, 5-10, Sr., Salt Lake City, UT)
Brok Pendleton, Saint Martin's (F, 6-6, Sr., Auburn, WA)
JB Pillard, Northwest Nazarene (F, 6-7, Jr., Kirkland, WA)
Richard Woodworth, Western Washington (G, 6-3, So., Bellevue, WA)