Bangor’s Ray gets NESCAC Co-Rookie honor

Bangor’s Zak Ray was named the New England Small College Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Co-Rookie of the Year Wednesday.

The Bates College freshman shares the award with Trinity’s Robert Taylor after finishing the season as the fourth-leading assist and steals man in the league. The former Winslow and Bangor High star dished out 113 assists – the most by a Bates rookie since the 1999-2000 season – while also finishing sixth in the league in assists-to-turnovers ratio and seventh in free throw percentage.

Ray helped lead Bangor to Class A state championships in 2001 and 2003.

The 5-foot-11 guard is the first Bates player to be selected NESCAC Rookie of the Year in at least seven years. This is also the first time in that span that Bates has had two players selected to the all-NESCAC team as Ray’s teammates and fellow guards, junior Brian Gerrity of Augusta and senior Ramon Garcia, were picked for the second team.

Gerrity averaged 14.7 points per game and ranks 17th nationally (NCAA Division III) among 3-point shooters with a 43 percent shooting percentage. He was also second on the team with 65 assists.

Garcia was the No. 2 scorer for the Bobcats with 14.7 points per game. He shot 42 percent from 3-point range to rank among the top 30 3-point shooters nationally in NCAA Division III play.

All three played key roles in leading Bates to an 18-8 record and an appearance in the NESCAC semifinals. The team tied the program record for wins in a season and shattered the school record for 3-pointers in a season with 268. The old record was 208, set during the 1994-95 season.

Packing ’em into Alfond

Fan attendance at University of Maine women’s basketball games rose 20 percent over last year.

With an average crowd of 2,498 fans per home game this season, attendance was up almost 500 fans per game over last year’s average of 2,021.

The highest home game attendance in three seasons ranks the Black Bears 45th in the nation and first in the America East conference. Only the University of Connecticut ranks ahead of Maine among New England schools for crowd size this season.

This season’s biggest crowd for a home game was on Feb. 1, when 4,128 fans watched Maine down Stony Brook. This was the third-largest crowd for an America East men’s or women’s basketball game this season. The largest crowd size this season was at Binghamton University, which had 4,823 fans on hand for the men’s final regular-season home game against Boston University.

Bryant gets Good coaching

Former Maine Central Institute postgraduate men’s basketball coach Max Good is having the same kind of success at Bryant College he enjoyed in Pittsfield.

Good, who led the postgrad program for 10 seasons, has the Bryant Bulldogs heading into the Northeast-10 Conference semifinals with a 21-8 record. The Bulldogs will take on 14th-ranked University of Massachusetts Lowell. A win would tie the school record for victories and give Bryant its first conference title game appearance in seven years.

Good has turned around an NCAA Division II program that won only eight games and finished 14th in the 15-team league four years ago. Last year, Bryant went 17-14 and finished sixth.

Before coming to Bryant, Good coached the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Prior to heading west, Good compiled a 275-30 career record, notched three unbeaten seasons, won five New England Prep School Athletic Conference titles, and won 79 consecutive games at MCI.

Bears in prime time

Due to a Boston Red Sox spring training telecast on New England Sports Network Friday, the University of Maine men’s hockey game against Boston College will be aired on a tape-delay basis.

The 7 p.m. game will air at 9:30 p.m. on NESN. NESN’s Hockey East Friday Night Ice show will not be shown at all.

Saturday’s Maine-BC game will air live on Bangor station WABI (Channel 5) and Portland’s WMTW (Ch. 8) at 7 p.m.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600, or aneff@bangordailynews.net.