SEMO's Cleveland earns first-team All-OVC honors, Mahoney named Freshman of the Year

Southeast Missouri State's Antonius Cleveland dribbles into the paint against Northern Kentucky in the second half Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016, at the Show Me Center. (Trent Singer)

A pair of Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball players were recognized by the Ohio Valley Conference on Tuesday for their efforts on the court.

Senior Antonius Cleveland was chosen as a first-team selection in the conference, while Denzel Mahoney earned honors as the OVC Freshman of the Year and was a second-team and all-newcomer pick.

The 6-foot-6 Cleveland returns to the OVC tournament for the third time in his career and is currently leading the Redhawks in scoring with 17.0 ppg. He also leads Southeast in field-goal percentage (55.7 percent), blocks (28), steals (45) and minutes played (33 minutes per game). The native of Memphis, Tennessee, ranks seventh in the conference in scoring, reaching double figures in 29 of his 31 starts this season.

Cleveland has racked up 1,533 points during his four years with the program and is the school’s all-time leader in career starts (107).

Mahoney, who hails from Oviedo, Florida, is the second OVC Freshman of the Year in the history of the program. The first was Derek Winans, who earned the award in 2001-02.

The 6-4 guard is second on the team in scoring (14.2 ppg) after finishing conference play in the regular season with a team-leading 16.6 ppg. He’s averaging 29.1 minutes per game and has knocked down 50 3-pointers this season.

Mahoney reached double-digit scoring in 25 of his 31 starts and secured a league-high five OVC Freshman of the Week accolades, claiming the award three weeks in a row from Jan. 16-30. He’s led the Redhawks in scoring in nine of his last 12 starts.

Belmont’s Evan Bradds (Player of the Year), Tennessee State’s Tahjere McCall (Defensive Player of the Year) and Belmont’s Rick Byrd (Coach of the Year) rounded out the rest of the OVC’s top award-winners.

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2016-17 All-Ohio Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Teams

First Team

Second Team

All-Newcomer Team