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Montana State's Jubrile Belo named Big Sky Conference MVP, Defensive Player of the Year

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Posted at 10:27 AM, Mar 08, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-08 13:16:33-05

BOISE, Idaho — The Big Sky Conference released its men's all-conference awards on Tuesday morning, and in staying in line with the regular season, it was all Montana State.

The Bobcats hauled in a number of honors and awards for their performances this year, one where they went 24-7 and won the Big Sky regular season for the first time since 2002.

Montana State big man Jubrile Belo was named both the league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday, and was also a first-team All-Big Sky pick. Belo, a junior from London, England, averaged 13.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game for the Bobcats.

Fellow Bobcat Xavier Bishop, a senior from Springfield, Illinois, was also named to the first team. Bishop averaged 13.7 points, 4.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game for MSU.

Northern Colorado's Daylen Kountz, Southern Utah's John Knight III and Weber State's Koby McEwen were also named first team All-Big Sky.

Montana sophomore Josh Bannan was named to the second team after averaging 15.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. UM's Robby Beasley III and MSU's Amin Adamu were both honorable mention All-Big Sky players as well.

MSU's RaeQuan Battle and UM's Cameron Parker were both named co-Top Reserves for the season. Battle averaged 8.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for the Bobcats while Parker averaged 9.3 points and 4.6 assists per game for the Griz.

UM and MSU begin the men's Big Sky Conference Tournament on Thursday in the quarterfinal round. The Bobcats host the winner of Idaho and Sacramento State at noon on Thursday while Montana will take on Weber State at 2:30 p.m. that same day. If both teams were to win, the in-state rivals would meet in the semifinal round with a spot in the championship game on the line.

To view the women's all-conference awards that were released on Monday, click here.

2021-22 All-Big Sky Conference Teams & Individual Award Winners

Most Valuable Player: Jubrile Belo, Montana State
Defensive Player of the Year: Jubrile Belo, Montana State
Top Reserve: Cameron Parker, Montana and RaeQuan Battle, Montana State
Newcomer of the Year: Koby McEwen, Weber State*
Freshman of the Year: Ethan Price, Eastern Washington

First Team All-Big Sky
Jubrile Belo, Montana State*
Daylen Kountz, Northern Colorado*
Koby McEwen, Weber State*
Xavier Bishop, Montana State
John Knight III, Southern Utah

Second Team All-Big Sky
Linton Acliese III, Eastern Washington
Josh Bannan, Montana
Bryce Fowler, Sacramento State
Dillon Jones, Weber State
Steele Venters, Eastern Washington

Third Team All-Big Sky
Tevian Jones, Southern Utah
Jalen Cone, Northern Arizona
Matt Johnson II, Northern Colorado
Seikou Sisoho Jawara, Weber State
Maizen Fausett, Southern Utah

Honorable Mention All-Big Sky
Khalid Thomas, Portland State
Amin Adamu, Montana State
Mikey Dixon, Idaho
Robby Beasley III, Montana

* Unanimous Selection