MONROE, La. – The Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) released its 2015-2016 men's basketball All-Louisiana teams, and ULM senior Majok Deng was named to the First-Team and senior Justin Roberson earned Honorable Mention.
Deng added to his postseason awards after already being named to the All-Conference First-Team, Sun Belt All-Tournament Team and NABC All-District 24 First-Team. He finished as the SBC scoring champion, averaging 19.0 points per league game.
Additionally, the Adelaide, Australia product finished first in the conference in blocks (1.9 bpg), third in minutes (37.5 mpg) and offensive rebounds (5.3 orpg), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.421), sixth in three-pointers per game (2.3 3pg), seventh in rebounding (6.9 rpg) and eighth in free throw percentage (.793). Deng was also sixth in the nation in scoring among internationally-born players.
Deng scored at least 12 points in 25 of his last 27 outings. He netted a trio of 30-plus scoring games and 11 20-plus performances. Deng registered 14 double-doubles and 52 double-figure scoring games in two seasons.
The forward poured in a career-high 33 points two times at home against both Troy and Central Baptist. Deng also tallied 30 points in the conference-opener against UL-Lafayette at home.
Defensively, Deng rejected 101 career blocks to move up to fourth all-time in the ULM record book. He swatted a career-high nine blocks in a win at UT Arlington.
Deng won seven weekly awards including CollegeInsider.com National Mid-Major Player of the Week (Dec. 7, 2015), Louisiana Player of the Week (Dec. 21, 2015), College Sports Madness Player of the Week (Jan. 25, 2016), SBC Student-Athlete of the Week (Feb. 15, 2016), Louisiana Player of the Week (Feb. 15, 2016), CSM Player of the Week (Feb. 15, 2016) and SBC Student-Athlete of the Week (March 7, 2016).
Deng logged 40 minutes (or more) seven times including a career-high 52 minutes vs. Canisius in a triple overtime affair.
Roberson also added to his collection of 2015-16 postseason accolades which include Sun Belt Conference Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year, All-Conference Second-Team, SBC All-Tournament Team and NABC All-District 24 Second-Team.
The Natchitoches, La., native averaged 14.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He shot .416 from three-point range which ranked third in the league and was a remarkable improvement from his .186 the season prior.
Roberson led the team in steals for the second consecutive year. He finished SBC-play ranked second in steals, top-five in field goal percentage, seventh in scoring and seventh in minutes per game.
The guard started every game on the season and reach double-figures in scoring 25 times. He went on a 10-game stretch in conference where he totaled the nine highest scoring games of his career, all of at least 20 points.
Roberson drained a career-high 26 points against Troy at home on Jan. 21, 2016 where he went 11-14 from the field. He also scored at least 16 points in the final five games of the season including 23 points in the CIT at Furman.
Roberson won a pair of weekly awards this year on Jan. 25, 2016 when he was named both Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Week and Louisiana Player of the Week.
All-Louisiana First-Team
Majok Deng, ULM
Alex Hamilton, Louisiana Tech
Shawn Long, UL-Lafayette
Ben Simmons, LSU
Zeek Woodley, Northwestern State
All-Louisiana Second-Team
Demetric Austin, Dillard
DeAngelo Coleman, LSU Alexandria
Travion Kirkendoll, Centenary
Erik McCree, Louisiana Tech
Morris Wright, Xavier
All-Louisiana Third-Team
Antonio Blakeney, LSU
Anthony Gaines, Louisiana College
Johnny Griffin, Loyola
Keith Hornsby, LSU
Adrian Rodgers, Southern
All-Louisiana Honorable Mention
Christavious Gill, New Orleans
Tim Quarterman, LSU
Justin Roberson, ULM
Player of the Year
Ben Simmons, LSU
Newcomer of the Year
Demetric Austin, Dillard
Freshman of the Year
Ben Simmons, LSU
Coach of the Year
Larry Cordaro, LSU Alexandria
