Bowling Green State University Athletics
Lewis Named To MAC's All-Freshman Team
March 10, 2003 | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2003
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Mid-American Conference office announced the MAC Men's Basketball All-Freshman Team Monday morning (March 10), and Bowling Green State University guard Ron Lewis was named to the five-man squad. The team is the result of voting by the league's 13 head coaches.
Lewis, a native of Columbus, Ohio, stepped into a lineup that lost all five starters from last year. He has played in all 27 of BGSU's games to date, making 23 starts, and is third on the team in scoring with 10.9 points per game. He leads the team in rebounding, averaging 4.9 per game, and is second in both assists and steals.
In MAC games only, Lewis averaged 11.1 points and 5.2 rebounds.
Overall, his 293 points scored this season is the most by a freshman in the Dan Dakich Era. Additionally, Lewis has averaged more minutes per game (30.5) than any previous freshman under Dakich.
The last three Falcons to average double digits in scoring as a freshman later went on to earn MAC Player-of-the-Year honors. (Antonio Daniels averaged 12.6 points in 1994, Anthony Stacey averaged 16 points in 1996 and Keith McLeod averaged 12.4 ppg in 1999).
Lewis is looking to be the first freshman to lead the Falcons in rebounding since Stacey paced the team in that category in 1996. He is among the MAC leader in free-throw percentage, shooting .778 from the line.
Lewis is averaging 15.4 points over the last eight games, including an average of 18 points over the last four games of the regular season. Lewis is shooting .694 from the field over his last six contests.
Joining Lewis on the MAC All-Freshman Team are Kent State's DeAndre Haynes, Miami's Josh Hausfeld, Todd Peterson of Northern Illinois and Sammy Villegas of Toledo. Villegas was named the league's freshman of the year.
In other awards announced Monday, Central Michigan's Chris Kaman was the MAC's Defensive Player of the Year, while teammate Whitney Robinson garnered the league's Sixth Man Award.
The Falcons, 12-15 on the year, are on the road to face Ball State (13-16) in the first round of the 2003 First Energy MAC Tournament. That game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start Monday night (March 10) at BSU's Worthen Arena. The Falcons are seeded ninth for the 13-team tournament, while the Cardinals are the eighth seed.
The BGSU-BSU winner will advance to Cleveland's Gund Arena to face top-seeded Central Michigan on Thursday (March 13). That game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start.
