May 31, 2006

Allendale, Mich. - The Grand Valley State men's basketball team announced its team award winners for the 2005-06 campaign. The Lakers finished the season with a 27-4 mark and claimed both the GLIAC regular season and tournament titles. GVSU advanced to the NCAA DII Great Lakes Regional Tournament as the number two seed under second-year head coach Ric Wesley. Senior guard Courtney James was named the Lakers' Most Valuable Player, while sophomore guard Jason Jamerson earned the Offensive Player of the Year Award. Junior Kyle Carhart and sophomore Callistus Eziiukwu were named Co-Defensive Player of the Year award winners and Nate Bassett earned the Derek Smith Inspiration Award.

James, who was a GLIAC North Division First-Team honoree, averaged 10.5 points and a team-high 4.7 assists per game. Courtney ranked second in three-pointers made (41) and tied for third in steals with 41. James turned in a 2.54-1.0 assist-turnover ratio and connected on 84.3 percent of his free throw attempts.

Jamerson led the Lakers in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game. A Second-Team All-GLIAC North Division performer, Jamerson led the squad in three-pointers made (77) and steals (51), while ranking second in rebounds per game (5.2). His 77 three-pointers ranks as the second-best single-season total in the Laker record books.

Carhart and Eziukwu earned the defensive award for the lakers. Carhart often drew the opponents top offensive player in the defensive assignments. In addition to his 5.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game averages, Carhart tied for thid on the squad with 41 steals in 19.6 minutes per game. Eziukwu, a GLIAC North Division First-Team performer, tallied 74 blocked shots in his second season and has 191 in his career. The 6-10 sophomore led the Laker squad in rebounding (6.5), while ranking second in scoring (13.1) and steals (46). Eziukwu hit 61.2 percent of his shots from the floor.

Bassett was the consumate team-player for Wesley's Laker squad. The 6-4, senior forward averaged 1.7 points and 1.2 rebounds in 26 games for GVSU. Bassett set an example with his daily work ethic and attitude.