Posted 8:51 AM by Emmett
Evergreen's Wilder, Stewart named NAIA All-America teams

Evergreen State College senior guards Quincy Wilder and Andre Stewart were named to NAIA Division II Men's Basketball All-America honors prior to the NAIA championship game between Robert Morris College and Evangel University on Tuesday night in Point Lookout, Missouri.

Wilder's play in the national tournament apparently swayed the voters as he was named to the First Team and Stewart to the Second Team despite Stewart's status as the Cascade Collegiate Conference Player-of-the-Year. Wilder scored 26 points on 12-of-18 shooting in a 71-64 victory over Ottawa University and 32 points, including a near-heroic barrage of threes in the closing moments, during a 78-74 loss to Holy Family College.

He finished the season with a 22.9 scoring average in 28 games and led the Geoducks with 5.9 rebounds per game. Stewart averaged 21.2 points in 33 games and averaged more than four assists per game. Both men put up astounding shooting percentages for guards: Wilder shot 53 percent for the season and Stewart 52.5 percent.

Wilder, the 6-3 former Decatur High and Highline CC star who last played at the University of Southern California three years ago, and Stewart, the 6-4 Renton High and Shoreline CC product, were the only players from the West Coast named to any of the first three teams. Six other Cascade Conference players were named Honorable Mention as were two from the California Pacific Conference.

Robert Morris College's Bobby Smith, a transfer from NCAA Division I Villanova University who led the NAIA in scoring, was selected the National Player of the Year.