Zach Wallace Selected NACC Honorable Mention

2015 Mar 5

The Rockford University men's basketball team had a trio of players receive postseason recognition from the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Thursday morning. Junior John O'Bryan (Richmond, Ky.) highlights the group with his Second Team All-NACC selection, while sophomores Trae Blumhorst (Mendota, Ill.) and Zach Wallace (Rockford, Ill.) were each named NACC Honorable Mention. It is the first Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference postseason award for all three individuals. Rockford's three all-conference selections is the most since the Regents joined the NACC for the 2006-07 season.

Junior guard John O'Bryan becomes only the fifth Rockford University men's basketball player to earn Second Team All-NACC honors. O'Bryan had his best collegiate season to date finishing near the top of the conference in multiple categories. The junior ended the season second in the league in scoring (16.4), second in minutes per game (33.5), sixth in steals per game (1.5), seventh in free throw percentage (78.2%), eighth in 3-point percentage (39.2%) and seventeenth in assists per game (2.4). O'Bryan tied for the team-high with 20 double-digit scoring performances including scoring at least 20 points on six occasions and leading the team with a pair of 30-point efforts. His best outing of the year came at home against Dominican when O'Bryan poured in a season-high 35 points on an impressive 10-of-16 shooting performance including knocking down 6-of-10 from three-point range.

Sophomore Trae Blumhorst burst onto the scene in just his first season as a Regent. Blumhorst proved to be an excellent all-around player for Rockford and was the catalyst for the Regents down the stretch run of the season, which helped him earn a spot on the NACC Honorable Mention Team. The Mendota native was eighth in the conference in steals per game (1.4), twelfth in rebounds per game (5.7), fourteenth in minutes per game (29.3) and field goal percentage (47.0%) and twenty-first in scoring (11.4) and assists per game (2.0). Blumhorst really shined in the closing weeks of the season hitting the double-digit plateau 10 times in Rockford's final 11 games including six 20-point performances. Both of Blumhorst's double-doubles also came during that span highlighted by a 23-point, 10-rebound effort against Edgewood.

Sophomore forward Zach Wallace made huge strides from a season ago and is quickly becoming one of the top post players in the conference. Wallace finished in the top 6 in the NACC a trio of categories and in the top 15 in two others earning him NACC Honorable Mention recognition. The sophomore led the NACC in blocks per game (1.7), finished second in rebounds per game (7.6), sixth in field goal percentage (54.4%), thirteenth in free throw percentage (74.3%) and fourteenth in scoring (13.4). Wallace also led Rockford with 7 double-doubles and tied for the team-high with 20 double-digit scoring performances including hitting the 20-point mark on five separate occasions. One of Wallace's best performances came against Aurora University when he tallied 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Rockford upset the eventual NACC regular season champions.