NEW HAVEN, Conn. - - For the first time since Wilmington University and the men's basketball team became an NCAA Division II affiliated program in the fall of 2004, the Wildcats placed a student athlete on the All-CACC First Team.

After becoming the league's second leading scorer at the end of the season, senior Corye Payton earned the First Team status, in a vote by the conference's head coaches on Thursday.

Payton tallied 12 games of 20 or more points throughout the year, including a stretch of five consecutive games from January 24 through February 6. He scored a career and a 2011-12 team high 30 points in a 67-56 victory over Felician at the Pratt Center. He also finished off his playing career in fashion, scoring 23 and 22 points, respectively, in his final two games. He also notched double-figure points in 24 games this season, including the last 19 straight.

The late season surge allowed him to jump up into second in the league scoring category, as he finished the season by averaging 18.1 points a game, only .5 points per game away from Concordia's Argelix Gil. However, Payton scored when it matted most, leading the CACC in scoring in conference games at 19.8 points per game.

Payton was also proficient when he shot the ball, finishing sixth in the conference with a 52.9 field goal percentage. The guard made 175 field goals on 331 attempts, including sinking 58 three-pointers on 154 attempts.

Payton also grabbed five rebounds a game and considering big men Brandon Fox and Matt King missed a combined 17 games, he finished with a team high 129 boards and led the team on the glass for most of the season.

It is the first time any Wildcat has earned All-CACC honors since 2009-10 when Vernon Dupree and Antonio Sherrod were named Honorable Mention. Sherrod was also tabbed third team All-CACC in 2008-09. Prior to Payton, Taurean Temple garnered the highest post-season accolade when he was selected to the All-CACC Second Team in 2007-08.

Payton was joined by Philadelphia's Jim Connolly, Dominican's Cory Quimby and Leon Porter, and Bloomfield's Ahmad Harris on the First Team. Harris and Quimby were tabbed as Co-Players of the Year while University of the Science's Garret Kerr was named the Rookie of the Year. Goldey-Beacom's Chuck Hammond was selected as the Coach of the Year and USciences also took home the Sportsmanship Award.

AGATE:

2011-12 All-CACC Men's Basketball Teams

First Team:
Jim Connolly, Philadelphia U.
Cory Quimby, Dominican
Ahmad Harris, Bloomfield
Corye Payton, Wilmington
Leon Porter, Dominican

Second Team:
Garret Kerr, USciences
Mark Dirugeris, Chestnut Hill
Argelix Gil, Concordia
Marcu Porter, Goldey-Beacom
Matt Wafula, Bloomfield

Third Team:
Niokla Otovic, Caldwell
Rickie Crews, Holy Family
Dan Comas, Chestnut Hill
Khiry Hankins, Holy Family
Temi Adebayo, Philadelphia U.

Honorable Mention:
Alberto Munoz, Holy Family
A.J. Picard, Goldey-Beacom
Jake Wilcox, Post
Josh Lopex, Post

2012 CACC Men's Basketball Postseason Awards:
Co-Players of the Year: Ahmad Harris (Bloomfield), Cory Quimby (Dominican)
Rookie of the Year: Garret Kerr (University of the Sciences)
Coach of the Year: Chuck Hammond (Goldey-Beacom)
Sportsmanship Award: University of the Sciences