MIAA honors were given to Missouri Southern freshman guard Skyler Bowlin and Head Coach Robert Corn. Bowlin was named the MIAA Freshman, and Corn was named Coach of the Year.

“I was pretty surprised when I found out,” Bowlin said.

“I was in the gym shooting around when (senior guard) TJ Britton came up and told me I won it. It’s a great honor, but right now I am more focused on the conference tournament and hopefully making it in the national tournament.”

Bowlin, a native of Paragould, Ark., is the top-scoring freshman in the MIAA this season. He averages 9.7 points per game and leads the league in steals (2.44) while ranking 10th in assists at 3.22 per game.

He has also helped the team to rank 14th in Division II in assists per game.

Southern was also represented on the All-MIAA teams, by junior forward Vincent Ateba, who picked up first-team honors.

Senior guard Octavius Hawkins and junior guard Tony Webb were honorable mentions for the All-MIAA selection. Bowlin and TJ Britton were both named to the league’s All-Defensive Team.

Coach Corn led a Lions squad that was picked to finish last in the MIAA in the Preseason Coaches Poll to the fourth seed in the MIAA basketball tournament.

The Lions picked up seven more wins than they had all of last season and were ranked regionally for two weeks late this season.

Ateba the Lions second leading scorer at 14.9 points per game, ranks ninth in the MIAA in scoring and is ninth in rebounding at 6.4 per contest. He is third in the league in field goal percentage at 56.6 percent.

Webb, is the team’s leading scorer at 15.2 points per game. He ranks eighth in the MIAA in scoring and in field goal percentage, while ranking fifth in steals per game.

Hawkins was the Lions third leading scorer after transferring to Southern from Missouri-St. Louis. The senior averaged 11.9 points per game and was second on the team in rebounds at 5.8. He also ranked third in steals.

Britton was a unanimous selection to the MIAA’s All-Defensive Team. The senior helped lead a stingy Southern defensive pressure that led the MIAA in steals (11.63) and ranked third nationally in Division II.

The Lions also ranked first in the MIAA in turnover margin with a sparkling +7.37 more turnovers forced per game. Bowlin joined Britton on the All-Defensive Team. He led the MIAA in steals and ranked 22nd in Division II.

The Lions led the MIAA in four different categories this season: Scoring (78.7), field goal percentage (.468), steals (11.63) and turnover margin (+7.37).

The men’s basketball team will be back in action this afternoon against Fort Hays state in the first round of the MIAA tournament, which is held in Kansas City. Tip off will be at 2:15 p.m.

“I really think if we go to Kansas City and play like I know we can, then we have a legit chance at winning the tournament,” Bowlin said.

“We just need to play with a lot of energy and play good defense, everything else will take care of itself.”

This information was received through the Sports Information Department.