Cameron Ayers Garners Team MVP Honors at Men's Basketball Awards Banquet

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Head coach Dave Paulsen and the Bucknell men's basketball program held its annual Backcourt Club Awards Banquet on Apr. 12 at La Primavera Ristorante, and senior Cameron Ayers took home a pair of awards, including the Benton A. Kribbs Award as the team's most outstanding player in 2013-14.

Ayers also captured the Malcolm E. Musser Award for Leadership. Sophomore guard Ryan Frazier was given the Thomas A. Thompson award for "spirit, intensity and outstanding defensive play," and junior forward Cory Starkey was presented the Coaches' Award.

The Backcourt Club Award, presented to a member of the Bucknell or local community for outstanding contributions to the program, went to avid Bison supporter Fran Simko.

In addition to the presentation of team awards, the highlight of the event were the poignant remarks by seniors Ayers, Brian Fitzpatrick, Ryan Hill and Ben Brackney. That group graduates as the winningest senior class in program history with 94 victories, three Patriot League regular-season titles, two Patriot League Tournament titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances and one NIT bid.

Ayers was the 2014 Patriot League Player of the Year, and at season's end he was also named to the NABC All-District 13 Team, and he was one of 25 Division I players selected to the Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team.

Ayers was a three-time All-Patriot League selection, earning First Team honors in each of the last two seasons and Second Team recognition as a sophomore. This year he became the sixth Bison to claim the Patriot League Player of the Year award. This season Ayers ranked third in the Patriot League in scoring at 15.4 points per game, and his 16.2 average in league games ranked No. 2. He shot 40.2 percent from 3-point range and 85.8 percent from the free-throw line.

In Bucknell's home victory over Lehigh, Ayers became the ninth player in program history to eclipse the 1,500-point plateau. He will graduate ranked eighth all-time with 1,526 points. He participated in 94 victories over the last four years, the most of any Bucknell player ever.

Frazier has been a defensive stopper for the Bison in each of his first two campaigns. This season he played in all 30 games and started seven, and he was typically on the floor late in games as Bucknell was protecting leads. Frazier also averaged 4.2 points per game with a season-high of 10 points in road wins over Kent State and Boston University. He converted two key 3-point plays late in the 63-53 win over Boston University and also helped hold Preseason Patriot League Player of the Year D.J. Irving without a field goal.

Starkey played a prominent role down the stretch for the Bison. The team won its final six games of the regular season after going to a bigger lineup, and in those six games Starkey recorded 35 points and 41 rebounds while playing over 21 minutes per game. The Bison had an incredible +86 rebounding margin in those six games, and Starkey was a big part of that.

Bucknell finished 16-14 overall and 11-7 in the Patriot League, good for a fourth-place finish in the 10-team standings.