In reaching 20 wins for the third time in the last four seasons, Belmont basketball had two players receive postseason awards as announced by the league Tuesday.
Junior Justin Hare (Cleveland, Tenn.) was named First Team All-Atlantic Sun, while senior Boomer Herndon (Nashville, Tenn.) was named Second Team All-Atlantic Sun.
Hare, the reigning Atlantic Sun Tournament MVP, leads Belmont and ranks eighth in the Atlantic Sun in scoring at 14.4 points per game. The 6-2 guard has 22 double figure scoring games this season and ranks among the league’s leaders in five offensive categories.
On December 29 at Saint Mary’s (CA), Hare became the third fastest Bruin to score 1,000 career points, doing so in 74 games. This, coupled with his late-game heroics in victory over Rice the evening before, garnered Hare Saint Mary’s All-Tournament Team honors.
Also a distinguished exercise science major, Hare was recently named to the CoSida Academic All-District Team for a second consecutive year.
Meanwhile, Herndon solidified his place as one of the premier post players in the Atlantic Sun. The 6-10 center ranks second in the conference in field goal percentage (.627) and has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in 24 of 29 games this season. Herndon, who registered a career-high eight blocked shots in Belmont’s regular season finale at North Florida, also ranks second in the conference in blocks per game (1.48).
Like Hare, Herndon was also named to the Saint Mary’s All-Tournament Team after scoring 34 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in two games.
“It is a great accomplishment for both of these young men to achieve all-conference status two consecutive years,” Belmont Head Coach Rick Byrd said. “Justin and Boomer have led our program to unprecedented success during their time at Belmont. I think they would be the first to say that the unselfish play of their teammates played a big part in their individual achievement.”
Hare and Herndon were each Second Team All-Atlantic Sun a year ago.
Belmont (20-9, 14-4 Atlantic Sun) plays Gardner-Webb Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. Tip-off is set for noon CT from Johnson City, Tenn.
