Fink Player of the Year - Erickson, Hieb and Parnell Receive CCC Honors
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LA GRANDE, Ore. – Oregon Tech's Mitchell Fink, Seth Erickson, Tyler Hieb, and Head Coach Justin Parnell all received Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) 2018-19 Men's Basketball honors the Conference office announced today.
Fink was named CCC Player of the Year while Erickson was an All-Conference selection. Hieb picked up All-CCC honorable mention and Head Coach Justin Parnell was named CCC Coach of the Year.
Fink (JR. - Clackamas, Ore.), a CCC Co-Player of the Year in 2017-18, was once again a consistent force on both sides of the ball for the 2018-19 regular-season champion Owls, averaging 13.7 points per game, dishing out an NAIA-best seven assists per contest, and ranking third in the conference with 1.7 steals per game. A gifted scorer, distributor, and defender, Fink has firmly established himself as one of the conference's most complete overall players. "Mitchell is a special player," said Parnell. "He's not only one of the most skilled guards I've seen at this level, but he is fierce and relentless competitor. As just a junior, he's been honored as CCC Player of the Year twice – quite impressive." Ink is now 7th on Tech's All-time scoring list with 1,435 points, just 22 behind Matt Foster for 6th and is in 3rd all-time in assists at 612 behind Greg Regan (629) and Todd Matthews (804).
Erickson (JR. - Salem, Ore.), led the Owls with 5.6 rebounds a game, was second in scoring at 13.5 points per game including a team best 43% from long range on 57-of-134. "Seth put in as much work as anyone this summer and it sure paid off," said Parnell. "He was a big reason for our success and his big time play down the stretch of games this year was a huge reason for our success."
Hieb (JR. - Wilsonville, Ore.), the team's defensive stopper, was also third in scoring on the year averaging 10.1 points per game. "Tyler may not have had the statistical year he had hoped, but he hit every single big shot we needed at the end of games," added Parnell. "If the ball is in Ty's hands down the stretch, you know something good is going to happen. That speaks volumes about him."
In just his third year at the helm, Justin Parnell takes home Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Owls to a 24-7 record (15-3 CCC) and the CCC regular-season championship. Ranked as high as No. 6 in the last NAIA Coaches' Top-25 Poll, Parnell will lead the Owls to the NAIA National Tournament for the third time in as many years. "If I'm lucky enough to coach 20-30 years, I would be ecstatic if I could have a coaching staff like this the entire time, said Parnell. "I consider myself extremely fortunate to have Paul Poetsch, Josh Wetzler, Joel Yellow Owl and Tanner Karp leading our guys. They are quality men who care about our players more than they do winning."
Other Honorees included College of Idaho's Talon Pinckney Defensive Player of the Year, and Multnomah's Justin Martin named Newcomer of the Year.
Defensively, few were as impactful as the Yotes' Pinckney, who was the face of a College of Idaho defense that ranked first in the CCC in points allowed (68.1), opponent field goal percentage (.407), and opponent three-point percentage (.324). Consistently shutting down top guards throughout the conference, Pinckney himself ranked second in the CCC in steals, averaging 2.6 a game.
There was little doubt as to who the Newcomer of the Year would be, as Multnomah's Justin Martin took the CCC by storm in his first year with the Lions. The junior college transfer led the entire National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in scoring in 2018-19, averaging an insane 31.9 points per game. The pinnacle of Martin's incredible season took place on December 4, when he set a CCC and NAIA scoring record with his 71-point game against Warner Pacific
Below is the complete list of the 2019 All-Conference award-winners.
2019 CCC Men’s Basketball All-Conference Team
Player of the Year – Mitchell Fink, Oregon Tech
Defensive Player of the Year – Talon Pinckney, College of Idaho
Newcomer of the Year – Justin Martin, Multnomah
Coach of the Year – Justin Parnell, Oregon Tech
Team Sportsmanship Award Winner – Corban
