Pierce and Araujo named all-conference; Motley Defensive Player of the Year
Eric Pierce (first team) and Paulo Araujo (second team) were named all-conference and Justin Motley took home Defensive Player of the Year honors.
WATERTOWN, S.D. -- The North Star Athletic Association announced this evening the 2021-22 All-Conference teams and major award winners.
Eric Pierce (Oceanside, Calif.) earned first team all-conference honors after being Bellevue's second-leading scorer at 11.9 points per game. Additionally, he pulled down 6.3 rebounds per game which was good for second on the team. Furthermore, he leads the team with 67 assists and 56 steals and has blocked 24 shots, second on the team.
Paulo Araujo (Santa Ana, Calif.) took second team all-NSAA honors after a terrific second season on campus. He has been Bellevue's most consistent player throughout the season, leading the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game to go along with 3.8 rebounds per game and has made a team-high 41 three-pointers at a 37 shooting percent clip from deep.
Justin Motley (Cleveland, Ohio) brought home Defensive Player of the Year honors. Motley leads the conference with 65 blocked shots and ranks second in rebounds at 7.9 per game. Not a one-dimensional player, Motley also averages 9.0 points per game and is shooting a very efficient 65.5 percent from the floor.
Martis Johnson was also honored as Bellevue's Champion of Character representative.
Bellevue is the No. 2 seed in the NSAA Tournament. They meet third-seeded Valley City State Saturday at 8 p.m. with the winner advancing to Sunday's Championship Game at 4 p.m.