W&J's Koch named PAC's best

2/27/2007 3:31 AM

Washington & Jefferson College's Jon Koch never got the Presidents' Athletic Conference championship he wanted, but the senior walked away from his basketball career with something else Monday when he was named the conference's player of the year for the recently completed season.

Koch, a 6-2 guard, averaged 17.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for the Presidents this season, leading W&J to the conference championship game where Grove City came away with a 60-58 victory.

"It's nice to get the individual honors," said Koch, who finished his career as W&J's all-time leading scorer with 1,812 points.

"But the team awards are more important to me. I wish we could have won a PAC championship along the way, but it didn't happen."

That the Presidents were even playing in the conference championship game this season was something of a longshot. After winning one of its first 11 games, W&J went 13-13 after that and finished the season with a 14-14 mark. The 14 wins were the most by a W&J men's basketball team since the 1992-93 season.

The Presidents were led by Koch and fellow senior guard Brandon Studer, who joined Koch on the All-PAC first-team after averaging 15.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game this season.

Replacing that senior leadership will be a tall task for head coach Glenn Gutierrez next season.

"I'm pretty upset my career is over," said Koch. "We didn't accomplish what we set out to do, but I wouldn't trade these four years for another four. It's been a great experience. You learn a lot."

Waynesburg College guard Beau Wilson was named as a second-team all-conference pick, while W&J sophomore forward Wahab Owolabi was honorable mention.

Waynesburg senior guard Katie Lewandowski was an all-PAC first-team women's basketball selection, while W&J placed four on the women's team. Forward Maggie Gibson and guard Kennan Killeen were on the second team, while forwards Emily Hays and Marla Hillenbrand were honorable mention.

Bethany junior forward Lisa Mitchell, an Avella High School graduate, was named to the second team.

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