Lincoln seniors Anthony Virdure and Jaylon Smith were named all-conference by the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the league announced Monday.
Virdure was one of five players named to the All-MIAA first team, joining Northwest Missouri's Justin Pitts, Fort Hays State's Rob Davis, Washburn's Brady Skeens and Nebraska-Kearney's Trey Lansman.
Virdure was the leading scorer in the MIAA this season, averaging 22.1 points per game. He finished the regular season with 4.3 assists per game (fourth
in the MIAA) and added 4.0 rebounds per contest.
In addition to leading the conference in scoring, Virdure also posted the highest single-game scoring effort in conference play this season. He had a career-high 50 points in an 80-75 loss Feb. 2 against Northwest Missouri, which was then ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II.
This marks the second straight season Virdure received All-MIAA honors and he become the 12th Blue Tiger to make the first team. He was named to the second team last season.
Smith was one of five players named to the All-MIAA third team. He received honorable mention honors last season.
During the 2016-17 regular season, Smith ranked third in the conference in scoring, averaging 20.8 points per game. He was also second in steals per game (2.0), fifth in 3-point field goals made (70), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (.363) and seventh in rebounding per game (6.5).
Smith scored a career-high 37 points Dec. 29 in a 99-68 win against Robert Morris-Peoria and scored at least 30 points in six games this season. He also posted six double-doubles.
Both Virdure and Smith scored their 1,000th points as Blue Tigers this season, becoming the 21st and 22nd players in Lincoln history to achieve that milestone.
In other MIAA awards, Pitts was named the Player of the Year for a second consecutive season, while Northwest Missouri's Ben McCollum was named Coach of the Year for a third straight season. Skeens was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Year and Missouri Southern's Elyjah Clark was picked as the Freshman of the Year.