March 2, 2016

Pat Bacon Named SSC Freshman of the Year

Freshman guard Pat Bacon earned the league's top honor for a first-year player.

MELBOURNE, Fla. - The Sunshine State Conference recognizes fifteen men's basketball student-athlete as All-SSC in 2015-16. For the first time in conference history three teams share the men's title. Tri-champions, Barry University, Eckerd College, and Rollins College, combine for eight All-SSC awards.

Freshman Pat Bacon has been named to the All-Newcomer team and has been named SSC Freshman of the Year. This is the first time in school history that a Tampa player has been awarded Freshman of the Year.

Bacon set a school record this season, as his 518 points are most in school history by a freshman. On the season, Bacon led the team with 19.2 points per game and ranked second on the team with 3.9 assists per game.

Bacon had his best game of the season on December 15^th, as the freshman scored 31 points in a game against Tiffin.

Yunio Barrueta of Barry University is selected SSC Player of the Year. Barrueta guided the Buccaneers to a 21-5 (12-4 SSC) record and the tournament No. 1 seed. He joins Nick Ellingsworth-Perez (2004-05) as the only other Buccaneer to win Player of the Year.

All-SSC History: SSC Players and Coaches of the Year | All-SSC Teams

SSC men's basketball coaches name Tom Ryan of Eckerd College as SSC Coach of the Year. Under Ryan, the Tritons finished 22-6 (12-4 SSC) and grabbed the tournament No. 2 seed. This is the third SSC Coach of the Year award for Ryan (1997-98, 2000-01) and the fifth for Eckerd.

Florida Tech's Corbin Jackson takes home his third consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award. Newcomer of the Year belongs to Barry's Elvar Fridriksson. Pat Bacon from the University of Tampa gets the Freshman of the Year nod.

Yunio Barrueta (Barry), Marcus Dewberry (Saint Leo), Chris Page (Dylan Travis), Dylan Travis (Florida Southern), and Jeff Merton (Rollins) make up the All-SSC first team. Barrueta and Page repeat as All-SSC first team members from 2014-15. Barrueta was also named to the first team in 2013-14.

Player of the Year = Yunio Barrueta, Barry
Defensive Player of the Year = Corbin Jackson, Florida Tech
Newcomer of the Year = Elvar Fridriksson, Barry
Freshman of the Year = Pat Bacon, Tampa
Coach of the Year = Tom Ryan, Eckerd

2016 ALL-SSC Men's Basketball Honors

First Team
Pos.
F
G
G
G
F

Second Team
Pos.
F
G
F
G/F
C

Newcomer Team
Pos.
G
G
G
F
G/F

Name
Yunio Barrueta*^%
Marcus Dewberry
Chris Page*#%
Dylan Travis+
Jeff Merton

Name
Corbin Jackson~%
Dominique Williams
Fred Landers
Jerrick Stevenson
Harrison Goodrick

Name
Elvar Fridriksson
Pat Bacon
Tyreece Brice
Caleb Stewart
Drushaun McLaurn

School
Barry
Saint Leo
Nova Southeastern
Florida Southern
Rollins

School
Florida Tech
Florida Southern
Lynn
Eckerd
Nova Southeastern

School
Barry
Tampa
Saint Leo
Saint Leo
Eckedrd

Yr.
Sr.
Jr.
Sr.
Sr.
So.

Yr.
Sr.
Sr.
Sr.
Sr.
Jr.

Yr.
So.
Fr.
So.
So.
Fr.

Hometown
Miami, Fla.
Lake Wales, Fla.
Plainfield, Ind.
Omaha, Neb
Naples, Fla.

Hometown
Rockledge, Fla.
Haines City, Fla.
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Lakeland, Fla.
Sydney, Australia

Hometown
Njardvik, Iceland
Indianapolis, Ind.
Rock Hill, S.C.
Schenectady, N.Y.
Jacksonville, Fla.

*=2014-15 First Team
~=2014-15 Second Team
+ = 2014-15 Newcomer Team
^=2013-14 First Team
#=2013-14 Second Team
% = 2013-14 Newcomer Team