THIAGO CORDEIRO NAMED TO NCAA DIVISION II SOUTH REGIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

        LAKELAND, Florida – Arkansas Tech’s Thiago Cordeiro was named to the five-player NCAA Division II South Regional All-Tournament on Tuesday following the conclusion of the South Regional Championship game, which 15th-ranked and No. 2 seed Christian Brothers won 82-72 over 11th-ranked and No. 1 seed Florida Southern in front of nearly 1,600 fans at Jenkins Field House on the Florida Southern campus.

Cordeiro, a senior center from Recife, Brazil, and a transfer from the University of Dayton, averaged 16.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game and shot 58 percent from the floor in his two NCAA D-II South Regional games, including picking up a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds in the Wonder Boys 95-92 overtime loss in the regional semifinals on Sunday to Florida Southern, the region’s host team. In that game against Florida Southern, Cordeiro hit a three-pointer right before the buzzer in regulation to send the game to overtime. The three-pointer was just the fourth of the season for the 6-foot-10 post player.

“Thiago had an outstanding postseason for our team and was a difference maker in the paint for us all season long,” Wonder Boys Head Coach Mark Downey said. “He is very deserving of all the honors he’s received thus far this year.”

In five postseason games, Cordeiro averaged 12.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game and also shot 55 percent from the field. In addition to his NCAA South Region All-Tournament selection, Cordeiro was also named a First-Team All-GSC West Division selection, a GSC All-Tournament Team honoree and a Second-Team Daktronics and NABC Division II All-South Region selection.

Cordeiro was joined on the NCAA South Region All-Tournament Team by Florida Southern guard Rob Eldridge, Florida Southern forward John Thompson, Christian Brothers guard Reggie Peyton and Christian Brothers forward Nick Kohs, who was named the South Region’s MVP after averaging 25 points per game enroute to leading the Buccaneers to its first-ever D-II South Regional title and a berth in the Elite Eight next week in Springfield, Mass. 

 -- Tech Athletics --