Maldonado, Mathis Selected To Compete In NEBCA All-Star Game

BABSON PARK, Mass. – Elms College senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) and senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.) will compete in the upcoming men's basketball New England Basketball Coaches Association (NEBCA) All-Star Game on Sunday, April 18.

Elms' assistant coach Todd Dean will be an assistant coach for Maldonado and Mathis' team.

Maldonado and Mathis become the sixth and seventh players to participate in the NEBCA event which is set for a 1:00 p.m. start on the campus of Babson College. The two seniors join Damien Bradley (2002), Kyle Seyboth (2005), David Williams (2007) and Nate Hawes (2008) as the other Elms College players who have participated. Head coach Ed Silva and assistant coach Todd Dean both also played as seniors during the late 1990's.

Maldonado finished the 2009-10 campaign ranked third in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (45.5-percent), and was named the 2009-10 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Player of the Year and was selected as a First-Team All-NECC member. He was also named Second Team All-National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Northeast District, Second-Team All-ECAC, and was the ECAC tournament Most Outstanding Player during his final season. He concludes his sensational four-year stay as the program's all-time leader in points (1,686), field goals made (581), and field goals attempted (1,219). He is also on Elms' all-time top 10 lists in games played (114), three-point field goals made (238), three-point field goals attempted (532), free throws made (286), free throws attempted (353), assists (312) and steals (201).  

Mathis earned Second Team All-NECC honors after finishing the regular season with 316 points, and a team-high total of 201 rebounds

The game is made up of seniors from each of New England's nine Division III conferences - the NESCAC, MASCAC, Little East, GNAC, NAC, NECC, UAA, TCCC and NEWMAC.

Sherrard Robbins (Malden, Mass.) of Wheelock College and Joe Karnick (Castleton, Vt.) of Southern Vermont College will be the other NECC representatives.

There are many stars participating who have garnered All-America status as well as All-Region, All-Conference, and Conference Player of the Year honors. The rosters for this year's game were selected by several committees made up of area college coaches.

Founded in 1936, the New England Basketball Coaches Association is comprised of coaches at Division III NCAA institutions in the six-state New England region.