BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – West Liberty University men’s basketball standout Seger Bonifant has been named the Mountain East Conference’s 2014-15 Male Athlete of the Year.
Bonifant, a 6-7 junior wing from Berlin, Ohio, was a consensus first-team NCAA Division II All-American and the Basketball Times National Player of the Year after leading Coach Jim Crutchfield’s Hilltoppers to their second consecutive Mountain East Conference championship and sixth straight NCAA Division II “Sweet 16” berth.
Already the leading 3-point shooter in NCAA Division II history, Bonifant made 117-of-224 3-point tries (52.2 percent) to lead the nation in 3-point field goals and 3-point field goal percentage. His career 3-point field goal percentage (259-of-480, .540) ranks No. 1 all-time among NCAA Division II men.
Bonifant, who rocketed past the 1,000-point career mark during the season, ranked among the top 10 scorers nationwide at 22.8 ppg. He also averaged 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting a blistering 56.8 percent from the floor (254-of-447) and 84.7 percent from the line (105-of-124).
The junior sharpshooter hit double-figures in 31 of West Liberty’s 32 games with 20 games of 20 or more points, seven 30-point games and a career-high 44-point explosion in a win at Glenville on Jan. 12. He knocked down an NCAA Division II season-high 10 3-pointers in a Jan. 8 win against Shepherd and went a career-high 14-of-15 from the foul line at Urbana on Dec. 6.
The MEC Male and Female Athletes of the Year are selected by a vote of institutional administrators and the conference office. Wheeling Jesuit volleyball player Andrea Thobe was the MEC Female Athlete of the Year.
The MEC Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year will be announced next week along with the results of the voting for the MEC Play of the Year and the final Commissioner’s Cup standings for the 2014-15 academic year.
2014-15 MEC Award Winners
MEC Coaches of the Year
Female: Jenna Eckelberry, Shepherd, Women’s Basketball
Male: Chris Grassie, Charleston, Men’s Soccer
MEC Athletes of the Year
Female: Andrea Thobe, Wheeling Jesuit, Volleyball
MALE: SEGER BONIFANT, WEST LIBERTY, MEN’S BASKETBALL
MEC Scholar-Athletes of the Year
