Tusculum’s Kyle Moore Named First Team All-District By NABC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tusculum College's Kyle Moore has been named to the 2009 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II All-Southeast District Men's Basketball First Team. Three other South Atlantic Conference men's basketball players were named to the Second Team.

This marks the second district/region postseason honor for Moore. Earlier this week, he was named to the Daktronics Division II All-Southeast Region First Team. Moore becomes only the second player in the program's history to garner NABC postseason honors. In 2004, Brad Hawks was named to the NABC Division II All-District squad.

Moore has been named the 2008-09 South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year and is leading the league in scoring, averaging 21 points per game, which is the 18th best average in the nation. The two-time All-SAC guard also leads the conference in three-point field goals made per game, averaging 3.1 per contest (15th in NCAA II).

Kyle Moore

Elliott McDowell

Jonathan Whitson

Antonio Houston

He has already established SAC single-season records for three-point field goals (94) and free throws made (208). Moore is shooting 40.3 percent from beyond the arc (31st in NCAA II), while also gunning 84.2 percent from the free throw line (42nd in NCAA II).

Earlier this season, he recorded became the 21st player in school history to score 1,000 points in a Tusculum uniform. In his 58-game career at TC, he has scored 1,097 points, which are 16th on the Pioneer scoring list. He is also fourth all-time in career three-point field goals (182), third in three-point attempts (441), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (41.3%), fifth in free throws made (285), and fourth in free throw percentage (84.3%). Moore has also been named the SAC Player of the Week five times this season.

He has led the Pioneers to a 20-10 record as Tusculum finished second in the South Atlantic Conference and advanced to the SAC Tournament Championship game. TC has earned an at-large berth the NCAA II Tournament as the Pioneers will be the No. 8 seed in this weekend's NCAA Southeast Regional in Augusta, Ga. Tusculum will open against top-seed and regional host Augusta State University, this Saturday night at 6 p.m. from the Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Lenoir-Rhyne University's Elliott McDowell, Brevard College's Jonathan Whitson and Catawba College's Antonio Houston were all named to the Second Team.

McDowell, a native of Canton, N.C., and a graduate of Pisgah High School, led Lenoir-Rhyne in scoring (17.3 ppg) this year en route to All-South Atlantic Conference First-Team honors.

McDowell, a senior guard, also helped the Bears clinch the 2008-09 SAC Regular Season Championship and earn a berth in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Tournament. L-R finished the year with a record of 18-11 overall and a 12-4 mark in the league.

McDowell finished with 726 points in just under two seasons with the Bears and helped Lenoir-Rhyne win back-to-back conference regular season championships and land subsequent berths in the playoffs.

Whitson (Clyde, N.C.) led the Tornados in scoring and rebounding in 2008-09, tallying 19.1 ppg and 8.7 rpg. He led the South Atlantic Conference in rebounding as well as made field goals, and last week was Brevard's first All-SAC selection, earning a 1st team nod.

Whitson's best performance of the year, perhaps, came on February 11 against North Greenville, when he scored a career-high 33 points in a 78-62 win. In the game, Whitson set Brevard's all-time scoring record. February 25 against Newberry, he added the school's all-time rebounding record to his list of achievements.

The junior forward, who has started all 81 games since coming to Brevard three seasons ago.

Houston (Charlotte, NC/E. Mecklenburg HS), a 6-3, guard, has led Catawba in scoring this season with an 18.2 average. He ranks second on the team in rebounding at 5.3 a game and has added 51 assists, 35 steals and 22 blocked shots. He has moved into eighth place on Catawba's all-time scoring list.

2009 NABC Division II All-District Men's Basketball Southeast Team
First Team
Garrett Siler, Augusta State
Christ Commons, USC Aiken
Kendrick Easley, Mount Olive
Ben Madgen, Augusta State
Kyle Moore, Tusculum
Shaun Keaton, Georgia College & State

Second Team
Brandon Wright, Erskine
L.J. Dunn, Barton
Elliott McDowell, Lenoir-Rhyne
Jonathan Whitson, Brevard
Antonio Houston, Catawba