Josephs, Jowell named to SCAC Men's Basketball All-Conference teams

SEGUIN, Texas – Texas Lutheran seniors Nathan Josephs (San Antonio/Clark) and Harris Jowell (Brock/Brock) each garnered all-conference honors from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after leading TLU to the 2019 SCAC Regular Season Co-Championship.
 
Josephs, the team's point guard, was named to the All-SCAC First Team. Jowell, a redshirt senior forward, claimed a spot on the All-SCAC Second Team.
 
The Bulldogs, the No. 2 seed in this past weekend's conference tournament in Seguin, would go on to win their fourth SCAC Championship in five seasons by winning the conference tournament championship.
 
The Bulldogs will play in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship this weekend in Walla Walla, Wash. TLU faces No. 2-ranked Whitman (Wash.) at 7:30 p.m. pacific (9:30 p.m. central) Friday in Whitman's Sherwood Athletic Center.
 
In addition to the All-SCAC honors for Josephs and Jowell, three Bulldogs – sophomore guard Sebastian Andrade (El Paso/Americas), senior guard Jacob Kouremetis (San Antonio/O'Connor), and senior guard Alex Cage (Austin/McNeil) – were named to the All-SCAC Honorable Mention squad.
 
Josephs, Jowell and four other seniors – Shawn Hamilton (San Antonio/MacArthur), Jackson Willoughby (Port Aransas/Port Aransas), Kouremetis, and Cage – led TLU to an overall record of 18-9 and a conference mark of 11-5.
 
Josephs, Hamilton and Willoughby each were named to the SCAC All-Tournament Team, and Willoughby joined the likes of former Bulldogs Jordan Kouremetis (two times) and Sterling Holmes as an SCAC Tournament Most Valuable Player.
 
Josephs leads TLU in scoring (13.4 ppg), assists (4.3 apg), and steals (1.3 spg). He dished out 116 assists in 27 games and made 63 three-pointers. In the SCAC Championship final against the University of Dallas, Josephs played 43 minutes and had 18 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. TLU won in double-overtime 99-95.
 
Josephs was an All-SCAC Second Team selection in 2017-18. He has led TLU in scoring and assists in each of the last two seasons.
 
Jowell led the SCAC in rebounding and provided the inspirational spark for the Bulldogs last week in the run to the SCAC title and NCAA tournament berth. Knowing he had a knee injury, Jowell received medical clearance to play in the SCAC Championship semifinal against Trinity after missing the final two games of the regular season. In the semifinal win over Trinity, Jowell grabbed seven rebounds and scored four points in 14 minutes of action as the Bulldogs defeated the Tigers 64-60.
 
For the year, Jowell averaged 11.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. He shot .549 from the field and .435 from the three-point line. Sixty-four of his 192 total rebounds came on the offensive glass.
 
Jowell will leave TLU as the only basketball player (men's or women's) to win four conference championships and qualify for four NCAA tournaments. He also will end his career in the top-five all-time for total wins as a TLU player. The Bulldogs were 74-34 (.685) in games that Jowell played in the 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2018-19 seasons. Jowell missed all of the 2017-18 season with an injury.
 
Kouremetis has made a team-best 71 three-pointers so far this season and missed only three free throws (53-for-56). He is second on the team in scoring, at 11.0 points per contest.
 
Andrade is third on the team in scoring, at 11.5 points per game. He also averaged 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.
 
Cage, who received a vote for SCAC Defensive Player of the Year, scored 8.1 per game and grabbed 3.1 rebounds per contest. He also had 67 assists and 23 steals.
 
2018-19 SCAC PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Brandon Alexander, Southwestern University, 6-5, Jr., Forward, Inez, Texas

2018-19 SCAC NEWCOMER-OF-THE-YEAR
Ty Prince, Centenary College, 6-6, Fy., Forward, Thorndale, Texas

2018-19 SCAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Jontrell Herman, Johnson & Wales University, 5-9, Sr., Guard, Duck Hill, Miss.

2018-19 SCAC COACH-OF-THE-YEAR
Janson Hightower, Southwestern University, 14-11 Overall / 11-5 SCAC / Top seed in SCAC Tourney

2018-19 ALL-SCAC FIRST TEAM
Brandon Alexander, Southwestern, 6-5, Jr., Forward, Inez, Texas
Andrew Romero III, Johnson & Wales, 6-1, Sr., Guard, Northglenn, Colo.
Treylan Matthews, Centenary, 6-1, Sr., Guard, Houston, Texas
Nathan Josephs, Texas Lutheran, 5-10, Sr., Guard, San Antonio, Texas
Matthew Rindahl, Schreiner, 6-6, So., Forward, Kyle, Texas

2018-19 ALL-SCAC SECOND TEAM
Jontrell Herman, Johnson & Wales, 5-9, Sr., Guard, Duck Hill, Miss.
Cooxooeii Black, Colorado College, 6-7, Jr., Forward, Arapahoe, Wyo.
Harris Jowell, Texas Lutheran, 6-6, Sr., Forward/Center, Brock, Texas
Cedric Harris, Centenary, 6-6, Jr., Guard, Shreveport, La.
Michael Wambsganss, Dallas, 6-3, So., Guard, Denver, Colo.

2018-19 ALL-SCAC THIRD TEAM
Ellis Jones, Schreiner, 5-10, So., Guard, Houston, Texas
Ty Prince, Centenary, 6-6, Fy., Forward, Thorndale, Texas
Danny Rivara, Trinity, 6-7, Sr., Forward, Horseshoe Bay, Texas
Michael Holland, Austin College, 6-3, So., Forward, Waxahachie, Texas
Devin Roland, Austin College, 6-5, So., Guard/Forward, Little Elm, Texas           

HONORABLE MENTION (players receiving votes)
Austin College – Justice Mercadel (So., G); Colorado College – Aaron Acosta (Fy., G); Dallas – Dustin Mathis (So., G); Schreiner – Paul Wells (Jr., F); Southwestern – Jake Holmes (Jr., F), Joel Martinez (Jr., G), Andrew Puhl (Jr., F), Ryan Wheeler (Jr., G); Texas Lutheran – Sebastian Andrade (So., G), Alex Cage (Sr., G), Jacob Kouremetis (Sr., G); Trinity – Matthew Colliflower (Sr., F), Taylor Kim (Sr., G)

Coaches voted for 15 places for All-SCAC with 15 points awarded for first-place votes, 14 points for second-place votes, 13 points for third-place votes, etc., down to one point for a 15th-place vote. All players not elected to the First, Second or Third Team, but who received at least one vote, were named Honorable Mention. Coaches could not vote for their own players.