FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Anthony Johnson and Derek Needham capped the 2009-10 regular season by earning All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) honors. Johnson was named to the first team, while Needham earned second-team accolades as well as a spot on the All-Rookie team.
Johnson received his first selection to the conference's post-season team, collecting the first-team berth after averaging 15.6 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. He tallied his 15th double-double of the season in the regular-season finale by registering 26 points and 23 rebounds in overtime win against Niagara. Johnson became the program's latest 1,000-point scorer, and currently stands three points shy of moving among Fairfield's top 20 top scorers with 1,197 points. He is also ranked eighth all-time in Stags history with 808 career rebounds.
Needham has enjoyed what could be called the best freshman season by any Fairfield University basketball student-athlete. The guard has already broken two freshman offensive records with 460 points and 156 assists in his 29 starts. He has earned 10 MAAC Rookie of the Week honors this year, tying him for the conference record for most in a single season. The record is also held by LaSalle's Lionel Simmons, who won 10 weekly awards during the 1986-87 season. For the year, Needham leads the team in scoring with a 15.9 scoring average as well as with 5.4 assists per contest. He is the top scoring freshman in the MAAC this season, and the seventh leading freshman scorer in Division I.
Johnson becomes eligible for the MAAC Player of the Year award, as does the other four All-MAAC first team selections. Needham will also be in the running for the MAAC Rookie of the Year award as a member of the five-player All-Rookie squad. Both awards will be announced during on Thursday night at the Times Union Center, site of the 2010 MAAC Tournament.
Fairfield University, under head coach Ed Cooley, enters the 2010 MAAC Tournament as the number two seed after finishing the regular-season with a 20-9 overall record as well as a 13-5 MAAC mark. The Stags will play the winner of the game between seventh-seeded Canisius College and 10th-seeded Marist College on Saturday, March 6 at 7:30 pm in a MAAC quarterfinal game.
