The Mid-American Conference released its annual all-conference awards Wednesday morning, and it featured three Bobcats.
Jason Preston, Ben Vander Plas and Lunden McDay all earned accolades for their play in the 2019-2020 season.
Preston, a sophomore guard, earned All-MAC Second Team awards in his second year at Ohio. The do-it-all point guard has averaged 16.8 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game and 7.4 assists per game.
His name has been synonymous with the Bobcats’ success all season long and Preston has shown a tremendous ability to generate offensive looks with his passing abilities. He currently ranks fourth in the country in assists per game and first in the country with 238 total assists.
Vander Plas earned All-MAC Third Team honors after he was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year last season. The redshirt sophomore started in 30 of 31 regular season games for the Bobcats after he missed the Bobcats regular season finale because of an ankle injury. In his first start back, Vander Plas led Ohio past Central Michigan in the first round of the MAC Tournament with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
The Ripon, Wisconsin, native averaged 15.7 points per game, 6.9 rebounds per game and 2.9 assists per game.
Rounding out the awards for Ohio is McDay, who earned All-MAC Freshman Team honors. The 6-foot-3 guard from Akron has been an essential player for the Bobcats since the moment he arrived on campus.
He started in 29 of the 31 regular season games after missing one game because of injury, and then coach Jeff Boals deciding to roll with the hot hand from fellow freshman Ben Roderick.
Boals has called McDay one of the the team’s best on-ball defenders, and it showed in the final weeks of their season. In particular, against Kent State on Feb. 28, he had two steals in the final minutes of the game that helped Ohio in its win.
The Bobcats season continues when they play Akron in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament on Thursday in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m.
