PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team had three players receive postseason all-conference honors on Friday (March 4). Junior point guard Da'Shawn Phillip was named third team All-MEAC, senior forward Nathaniel Pollard, Jr. was named to the MEAC All-Defensive team and freshman guard Chace Davis made the MEAC All-Rookie team.

Philip was the only player on the Hawks to play and start in every game this season. This year's honor was the second conference postseason award for Phillip in his career as he was named to the All-Rookie team after the 2019-20 season.

The Baltimore native led the Hawks in minutes played, steals, assists and total points after taking over the ball handling duties this year. His steals (1.7) and assists (3.2) per game numbers were also good enough to be in the top 10 in the conference in both categories.

Phillip scored in double figures on 12 occasions this season including his career high of 16 points twice, once at Lehigh on December 4 and the other on March 3 versus Delaware State. He pulled down a career-high eight rebounds versus Norfolk State on January 17 and dished out a career-high eight assists against Coppin State on February 26. His five steals at North Carolina Central on February 21 was his season's best.

"Shawn has truly earned this all-conference selection," head coach Jason Crafton said. "He's our highest IQ player and has been a stat stuffer for us all season.

"His willingness to take over at point guard this year shows his commitment to winning. We are so proud of his growth on and off the floor and happy to see him earn this accolade."

Pollard, Jr. came to Princess Anne two years ago after spending his first two years of college at Eastern Arizona. The 6-5 Richmond, Virginia product averaged a double-double in junior college and quickly became one of the top rebounders and defenders in the MEAC.

He led the Hawks in rebounding and blocks this year and was fourth in the MEAC in rebounds per game and eighth in blocks per game. Pollard, Jr. averaged 1.4 steals per game as well and was the only player in the conference to be in the top 10 in both steals and blocks per game.

Pollard, Jr. had four games this season with double digit rebounds. Two of those games were a double-double for him and they came on December 8 versus Clarks Summit and January 31 against Morgan State. He scored his season high of 19 points three different times with the most recent occurrence coming on February 21 at North Carolina Central.

"Nate is our glue guy defensively and he leads our team every night in deflections," Crafton said. "His defensive activity sparks transition opportunities and our team thrives off of his energy.

Also, the work he does on the boards as an undersized forward is incredible, so it's great to see him selected to the all-defensive team because it's well deserved."

Davis came to Eastern Shore this season and played in every game during his freshman campaign. He averaged 8.0 points and 2.2 rebounds while shooting 84% from the line, which is the third highest percentage in the MEAC.

The role for Davis was as the sixth man for the first half of the season before injuries forced him to accept a bigger role. He would start in nine MEAC games and scored in double figures in five of those contests.

Earlier in the season, Davis won MEAC Rookie of the Week on December 14 after averaging 11.3 points in games against Lehigh, Clarks Summit and Saint Mary's (Md.). On February 21, the Accokeek, Maryland native scored his career high in points versus NCCU when he finished with 22 points while hitting six 3-pointers.

"Chace has worked hard on his game outside of practice in terms of getting up extra shots and watching film," Crafton said. "He's improved a lot over the course of the season and it's nice to see him get rewarded for those efforts."

Maryland Eastern Shore will play their next game on Thursday (March 10) at 8 p.m. in Norfolk at Scope Arena against North Carolina Central in the quarterfinals of the MEAC Tournament.

As voted on by the conference's head men's basketball coaches and sports information directors.

Player of the Year: Joe Bryant, Jr., Norfolk State
Rookie of the Year: Elijah Hawkins, Howard
Defensive Player of the Year: Christopher Sodom, Delaware State
Coach of the Year: Robert Jones, Norfolk State

2021-22 Men's Basketball All-MEAC Teams

 

First Team

 

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Class	School	Hometown
Joe Bryant, Jr.	G	6-1	Sr.	Norfolk State	Norfolk, Va.
Kyle Foster	G	6-5	Gr.	Howard	Hampton, Va.
Myles Cater	G	6-1	Sr.	Delaware State	Philadelphia, Pa.
Nendah Tarke	G	6-4	r-Fr.	Coppin State	Gaithersburg, Md.
Justin Wright	G	6-1	So.	North Carolina Central	Greenville, N.C.

 

Second Team

 

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Class	School	Hometown
Kris Bankston	F	6-9	r-Sr.	Norfolk State	Little Rock, Ark.
Steve Settle, III	F	6-10	r-So.	Howard	Glenarden, Md.
Elijah Hawkins	G	5-11	Fr.	Howard	Washington, D.C.
Eric Boone	F	6-2	r-Jr.	North Carolina Central	Lexington, Ky.
De'Torrion Ware	G	6-4	Jr.	Morgan State	Hopkinsville, Ky.

 

Third Team

 

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Class	School	Hometown
Antonio "TJ" Madlock	G	6-3	Fr.	South Carolina State	Memphis, Tenn.
Jalen Hawkins	G	6-2	r-Sr.	Norfolk State	Bronx, N.Y.
Randall Brumant	F	6-7	Gr.	Howard	Houston, Tex.
Dominik Fragala	G	6-0	Sr.	Delaware State	Chantilly, Va.
Da'Shawn Phillip	G	6-5	Jr.	Maryland Eastern Shore	Baltimore, Md.

 

All-Rookie Team 

 

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Class	School	Hometown
Elijah Hawkins	G	5-11	Fr.	Howard	Washington, D.C.
Antonio "TJ" Madlock	G	6-3	Fr.	South Carolina State	Memphis, Tenn.
Greg Spurlock	G	6-5	Fr.	Coppin State	Ashburn, Va.
Jemal Davis	F	6-9	Fr.	South Carolina State	St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.
Chace Davis	G	6-3	Fr.	Maryland Eastern Shore	Accokeek, Md.

                                                                                                                                           

                                                                        

                                                                             

All-Defensive Team 

 

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Class	School	Hometown
Christopher Sodom	C	7-3	Sr.	Delaware State	Washington, D.C.
Kris Bankston	F	6-9	r-Sr.	Norfolk State	Little Rock, Ark.
Randall Brumant	F	6-7	Gr.	Howard	Houston, Tex.
Nathaniel Pollard, Jr.	F	6-5	Sr.	Maryland Eastern Shore	Richmond, Va.
Nendah Tarke	G	6-4	r-Fr.	Coppin State	Gaithersburg, Md.