DUDLEY, Mass. – Nichols College sophomore Marcos Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) and freshman DeAnte Bruton (New London, Conn.) have been named the Worcester Area College Basketball Association (WABCA) Men's Player and Rookie of the Year, respectfully.

Echevarria – who was named the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Player of the Year last month – closed the season No. 11 in the nation in scoring at 23.4 ppg. A D3hoops.com 2016-17 Men's All-Northeast Region First Team pick, he scored 701 points this season – which is the second-highest mark in program history and placed him No. 4 in the country – and boasts a nation-leading 137 three-pointers. Echevarria is also No. 21 nationally in free throw percentage (89.1).

The sophomore captain guided the Bison to a program record-tying 24 wins and the first CCC Championship in program history, averaging 23 points, 6.3 assists, five rebounds, and two steals in three conference tournament contests. In the First Round of the NCAA Tournament against No. 11 Neumann, Echevarria made 10-of-10 from the line and finished with 18 points in a 96-93 win over the Golden Knights – the first NCAA Tournament win in program history.

On the season, the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team selection also averaged 4.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.2 steals. He scored 20-or-more points in 21 games this past season and reached the 30-point mark on seven occasions, highlighted by a 37-point outing against Lasell on November 19 and again on January 14 at Endicott. Echevarria also netted 30 against the Gulls in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on March 4.

​​​​​​​Bruton was named the CCC Rookie of the Year and was selected to the First Team. He finished second in the conference in scoring (21.3 ppg) and also averaged 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.7 steals. Bruton was named WACBA Rookie of the Week six times and the CCC ROW on seven occasions. He reached double-figures in scoring in all but two games this year, scored 20+ points on 16 occasions, and poured in 30-or-more points six times, highlighted by a 38-point effort against Endicott on February 8. He averaged 21.0 ppg in three CCC playoff contests and netted 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting the Bison's upset of the Golden Knights in the NCAA Tournament.

Additionally, Nichols head coach Tom Glynn was named WACBA Coach of the Year. The Bison reached the 20-win plateau for the third-consecutive season under Glynn this past season, and he owns a three-year mark of 69-16 (.812). The Bison have finished atop the CCC standings each season under Glynn's guidance, including the 2016-17 campaign, when they were picked to finish fourth in the preseason coaches poll.