Men's Basketball | 3/1/2018 9:19:00 PM
Shippensburg University senior
Dustin Sleva became the first person in 15 years to repeat as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Men's Basketball Player of the Year on Thursday to highlight three Raiders named to the 2018 All-PSAC squads. Voting is conducted by the league's coaches.
Sleva earned his third consecutive All-PSAC Eastern Division First Team honors, making him and current assistant coach
Chuck Davis (2003-07) the only players in school history with three All-PSAC First Team awards. Senior
Justin McCarthur and sophomore
John Castello were named to the All-PSAC Eastern Division Second Team; for McCarthur, it is his second consecutive year receiving Second Team honors.
Sleva, a 2016-17 NABC All-America First Team forward and 2017-18 Bevo Francis Award Watch List selection, is the first PSAC East Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons since West Chester's Ramzee Stanton in 2002-03. He is tied for third in the PSAC in scoring (21.5) and second in rebounding (10.7).
Overall, Sleva is second in the PSAC and among the Top 5 in Division II with 19 double-doubles. He has posted double figures in 69 of his last 70 games and provided three or more assists in 19 games this season.
McCarthur ranks third in the PSAC in three-pointers per game (3.0) and ranks 12th among active NCAA Division II players in career three-pointers with 275. He has posted double figures in 26-of-28 games this season and in 53 of his last 60 overall.
This season, McCarthur set the PSAC single-game record for three-point percentage by going 9-of-9 from distance on Jan. 31 against East Stroudsburg. He also set the SU single-game record for free-throw percentage by going 15-of-15 on Feb. 24 against Bloomsburg.
Castello averages 12.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while shooting 55 percent from the field. He has at least four rebounds in every game this season and at least 10 games with 10 or more rebounds (nine double-doubles). Castello has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 20 of the last 27 games. As SU's center, he has made 33 three-pointers and shot 82 percent at the free-throw line.
