MBB's Stokes, Benson, & Peretz Earn Top NECC Honors
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Three members of the Mitchell College men's basketball team received major awards from the New England Collegiate Conference on Tuesday morning as the league announced its annual men's basketball honors.
Senior guard Alfonzo Stokes (Bloomfield, Conn.) was named NECC Player of the Year and landed one of five spots on the all-conference team. He becomes just the third Mitchell player to win the conference's top honor, joining two-time winner Joshua Ford (2013, 2014) and Domenico Santiago (2019). Fellow senior Jalen Benson (New London, Conn.) was selected as NECC Defensive Player of the Year while head coach Todd Peretz was tabbed NECC Coach of the Year. All awards were determined by a vote of the league's head coaches.
Benson is the first Mitchell player to nab Defensive Player of the Year honors, while this is the third time that Peretz has been awarded Coach of the Year (2014, 2022).
Stokes and Benson, along with senior Mikey Buscetto (Waterford, Conn.) were named to the NECC All-Conference Team. Stokes, Benson, and Buscetto are only the third set of Mitchell teammates to earn first-team honors in the same season, joining the duo of Joshua Ford and Parris Hill (2015) and Stokes and Buscetto (2022).
Stokes averaged a NECC best 21.4 points per game to lead the Mitchell College men's basketball team to a 21-4 overall record, 6-0 in conference play. He added 5.3 rebounds, good for fourth best in the conference, and shot 49% from the floor, second in the NECC. Defensively, the senior was third in the league in steals, averaging 2.0 per game. During the season, Stokes became the sixth player in Mitchell's Division III era to eclipse the 1,000 career point milestone and scored in double-figures in all 25 of the Mariners games. During conference play, Stokes only upped his game, averaging 27.5 points and 6.8 rebounds on 58.9% shooting across six games. He was also a four time NECC Player of the Week (weeks ending 12/11/22, 1/2/23,1/29/23, 2/19/23).
Benson was a leader of a Mitchell defense that allowed only 72.1 points per game, best in the NECC. The senior averaged a career-best 12.8 points per game on offense, but his defense remained his calling card. Benson was second in the conference in steals per game, third in blocks per game, and often served as the lockdown defender of the opposing team's top offensive threat. On the offensive end, he was second in the conference in assists per game and fifth in field goal percentage. Finished with a line of 12.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks for the Mariners, who posted an undefeated record in conference play.
Buscetto posted a stat line of 13 points, 7.4 assists, and 2.9 steals per game. During conference play, his numbers remained consistent, averaging 11.8 points, 11 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.6 steals per contest. Buscetto leads the conference in assists per game (7.4), steals per game (2.9), and is third in the country in Division III in assists per game.
In his 24th season at the helm of the Mariners, Peretz led his squad to a 21-4 overall record and the league's regular season title with a 6-0 record in NECC action. Mitchell's 21 wins were also the most of any school in the conference and the most in the Division III era of the program. His team averaged a conference best 81.5 points per game, while also allowing only 72.1 points per game, also tops in the NECC. Under his guidance, two Mariners took home major conference awards and three earned all-conference recognitions.
Ahmani Browne (St. John's, Antigua) also represented Mitchell as one of four players selected for the Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team.
Mitchell will host Lesley University in the semifinals of the 2023 NECC Men's Basketball Championship on Wednesday, February 22nd, at 6 p.m.
2023 NECC Awards
Player of the Year – Alfonzo Stokes, Mitchell (Sr., G, Bloomfield, Conn.)
Defensive Player of the Year – Jalen Benson, Mitchell (Sr., G, New London, Conn.)
Rookie of the Year – Jasen Stovall, New England College (Fr. G, Tampa, Fla.)
Coach of the Year – Todd Peretz, Mitchell
First Team All-NECC
Bernie McGuiness, Eastern Nazarene (Jr., G/F, Cumming, Ga.)
Levi White, Eastern Nazarene (Sr., F, Springfield, Mass.)
Jalen Benson, Mitchell (Sr., G, New London, Conn.)
Mikey Buscetto, Mitchell (Sr., G, Waterford, Conn.)
Alfonzo Stokes, Mitchell (Sr., G, Bloomfield, Conn.)
Kyle Inglis, New England Col. (Jr., G, Burlington, Mass.)
Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team
Kobe Jones, Eastern Nazarene (So., G, Picayune, Miss.)
DJ Alexander, Lesley (Jr., G, Toledo, Ohio)
Ahmani Browne, Mitchell (Sr., G, St. John's, Antigua)
Alex Williams, New England Col. (So., G, Miramar, Fla.)