SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - It's very unlikely that junior forward Jim Bayne (Bristol, CT) will ever forget this season.

The Western New England College co-captain was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Basketball Player-of-the-Year Tuesday night (Feb. 20) after helping the Golden Bears win the regular season conference title with a 14-2 mark.

Bayne, who didn't play in 2005-06 because of academic reasons, leads the team in scoring (14.5 avg.) rebounding (9.0), and free-throw percentage (.813). He averaged 13.9 points and 9.5 rebounds in 16 conference games this winter.

A Business major, Bayne has scored in double figures 22 times this season and has 10 double-doubles (points-rebounds). He tallied a career high 30 points in an overtime win over Westfield State in December and passed the 1,000-point mark in career scoring last Saturday (Feb. 17) against Southern Vermont.

The league's coaches also selected Bayne to the All-GNAC First Team for the second time in his career. He also was a first team pick as a sophomore in 2004-05.

Bayne joins Eric Stewart (2000, 2001) and Kris Hebert (2003) as the only Golden Bears' performers named the GNAC Player-of-the-Year.

Junior point guard Asif Abdul- Wadud (Springfield, MA) and sophomore guard Matt Maynard (Paterson, NJ) were both named to the All-GNAC Third Team.

Abdul-Wadud is averaging 7.4 points with a team high 74 assists and 48 steals in his first full season as a starter.

Maynard is third on the squad with a 9.9 scoring average and second in both assists (58) and three-pointers (25).

Mike Theulen was voted the GNAC Coach-of-the-Year in only his third season directing the Golden Bears. 

Western New England College has a 19-7 record entering a game against Emmanuel starting at 7:00 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 22) in the semifinals of the GNAC Tournament.