SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (February 27, 2018) – Three SUNY Delhi men's basketball players parlayed exceptional seasons into All-ACAA selections, as the conference today released its all-league team. Jordan Fragale (Baldwinsville, NY / C.W. Baker) earned a spot on the first team, while William Knight (Valley Stream, NY / Valley Stream South) was chosen to the second team and Payton Dean (Harpursville, NY / Harpursville) receiving all-conference honorable mention.
The Broncos recently finished their third season under head coach Zack Thomsen with a 15-15 record. Delhi overcame a 0-4 start to the season, and won as much as six consecutive games, while posting a 6-2 record versus NCAA Division III opponents. In addition, two of Delhi's defeats were determined in overtime. Coach Thomsen's team finished their season on Friday at the NIAC Tournament, where despite a late rally attempt, came up just short against Maine Fort Kent, 77-72, in the league semifinals.
Fragale played in all 30 games as Delhi's point guard, starting all but two of them. The Baldwinsville, NY native ranked second in the ACAA with 6.0 assists per game, and was second on the Broncos with a 46.3 field goal percentage (125-for-270) and 39.3-point field goal percentage (17-for-43). As Delhi's fourth-leading scorer with 11.2 ppg., Fragale logged a pair of 20-point games, including a career-best 24 points at Florida National on Jan. 6 and 23 markers at Villa Maria on Feb. 11, where he scored 17 second-half points. He was also selected the ACAA Player of the Week after his 14 points and dozen assists guided the Broncos to a 78-74 win over NCAA DIII Morrisville State on Dec. 17. The C.W. Baker graduate also totaled five double-doubles, and was named an ACAA All-Academic earlier this month. Fragale majors in Accounting with a 3.32 GPA.
Knight played in 25 games with 14 starts as the Broncos' shooting guard, ranking first on the team and fourth in the ACAA with 14.0 ppg., as well as third on Delhi with a 35.4 3-point field goal percentage (79-for-223). He tallied eight 20-point games, including one 40-point game in Delhi's 110-58 rout of College of St. Joseph on Jan. 10, where he made 9-of-14 threes. Both Knight's and the team's showings that game marked the highest-scoring single-game performances under Coach Thomsen, and earned Knight ACAA Player of the Week honors. The sophomore went on to start the next nine games as Delhi's "number two", logging five of his 20-point games in the process; his other two 20-pointers came off the bench. Knight was also recently named an All-NIAC First-Team selection.
In his first year as Delhi's starting forward, Dean led the squad with 8.1 rpg. (third in ACAA) and third with 12.1 ppg. The sophomore from Harpursville, NY tallied nine double-doubles, along with one 20-point game. Dean earned both USCAA and ACAA Player of the Week honors in November after his 18-point, 23-board performance versus Berkeley NY helped the Broncos to an 88-84 upset win, snapping the three-time defending national champions' 56-game winning streak, which accumulated over three seasons. He also enjoyed a stretch where he scored in double figures in nine straight games, which coincided with Delhi's season-high six-game winning streak. The 6'7" forward picked up his second ACAA weekly honor after scoring a career-best 22 points at Fisher on Jan. 17. Dean was also chosen to the All-NIAC Second Team, as well as the All-NIAC Tournament Team after scoring 17 points with nine rebounds in the semifinals against the Bengals.
