BALTIMORE, Md. – Morgan State junior forward Phillip Carr was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year, while junior guard Tiwian Kendley joined Carr as an All-MEAC first team selection. The league announced its awards Friday in advance of the 2017 MEAC Tournament, which begins Monday (March 6) at the Scope Area in Norfolk, Va.

"I'm really happy for Phil and Tiwian," said Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman. "They both work extremely hard, and for both to have come back from injuries and have impactful seasons, it really says a lot about them."

Carr has proven to be a dominate force throughout the 2016-17 season.  The Brooklynite ranks sixth in scoring (16.8 ppg) and leads the league in rebounding (9.6 rpg) and minutes per game (36.3). Carr has recorded 11 double-doubles this year, including a career-best 29 points with 12 boards in the Bears' MEAC-opening win versus Norfolk State. He also recorded 22 blocks and 13 steals in 24 starts for the Bears.

Carr has earned the MEAC's Defensive Player of the Week honor two times this season and was selected the Player of the Week twice.  He was also selected to the 2017 All-MEAC First Team.

Carr joins Boubacar Coly (2008) and Kevin Thompson (2010) as the only other Bear standouts to be honored as the MEAC Defensive Player of the Year. 
 
With Carr and Kendley receiving first team accolades, Morgan State has now registered at least one member on the All-MEAC first team in seven of the last 11 years under head coach Todd Bozeman.  In fact, this marks the fourth time under Bozeman that the Bears have had two players as first team selections.
 
Kendley, who is out of Harlem, New York, has had a sensational season as a junior averaging a league high 21.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals. The 6-5 guard has registered 20 points or more 13 times this season, and was selected the MEAC Player of the Week twice. He poured in 40 points with 10 rebounds in a win against the Manhattan Jaspers -- becoming just the fourth person in school history to score 40 or more points. The Eleanor Roosevelt High School product continues to perform at an elite level and finds himself statistically ranked No. 17 among the nation's leading scorers.
 
Morgan State registered two student-athletes on the first team for the ninth time in school history (1971-72, 1972-73, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1978-79, 2007-08, 2009-10, 2013-14, 2016-17).
 
The No. 3 seeded Bears begin their quest for the 2017 MEAC Tournament championship next week at The Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. Morgan State will begin tournament play Thursday at 6 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday night's No. 6 Coppin State-No. 11 Howard opening round game. 

The 2017 regular-season champions, regular-season runners-up, first team honorees and award winners including Player, Rookie, Defensive Player and Coach of the Year, will be recognized in pre-game presentations prior to the honorees' first games in tournament play.
 
Morgan State, 14-15 overall, finished third in the MEAC at 11-5.
 
The Bears have had unprecedented success in the MEAC Tournament under head coach Todd Bozeman. The Bears have won a pair of MEAC Tournaments (2009 and 2010) and advanced to six conference championships in the past 10 seasons.

2016-17 Men's Basketball All-MEAC Teams
As voted on by the conference's head men's basketball coaches and sports information directors.

Player of the Year: Patrick Cole, North Carolina Central
Rookie of the Year: Charles Williams, Howard 
Defensive Player of the Year: Phillip Carr, Morgan State 
Coach of the Year: Levelle Morton, North Carolina Central
 
FIRST TEAM

Name	School	Pos.	Ht.	Cl.	Hometown
Patrick Cole	North Carolina Central	G	6-5	r-Sr.	Newark, New Jersey
Phillip Carr	Morgan State	F	6-8	Jr.	Brooklyn, New York
Tiwian Kendley	Morgan State	G	6-5	Jr.	Harlem, N.Y.
Bakari Copeland	Maryland Eastern Shore	F	6-6	Sr.	Decatur, Ga.
Jonathan Wade	Norfolk State	G	6-4	r-Sr.	Panama City, Fla.

 
 
SECOND TEAM

Name	School	Pos.	Ht.	Cl.	Hometown
Troyce Manassa	Savannah State	G	6-4	Sr.	Brooklyn, N.Y.
Eric Eaves	South Carolina State	G	6-3	Sr.	Columbia, S.C.
Dajuan Graf	North Carolina Central	G	6-0	r-Sr.	Charlotte, N.C.
Brandon Tabb	Bethune-Cookman	G/F	6-5	Jr.	Hampton, Va.
Zaynah Robinson	Norfolk State	G	5-11	Jr.	Atlanta, Ga.

 
THIRD TEAM

Name	School	Pos.	Ht.	Cl.	Hometown
Dexter McClanahan	Savannah State	G	6-5	So.	Stockbridge, Ga.
Devin Morgan	Delaware State	G	5-10	So.	Chester, Va.
Desmond Williams	Florida A&M	F	6-6	Jr.	Atmore, Ala.
Jermaine Marrow	Hampton	G	6-0	Fr.	Newport News, Va
Charles Williams	Howard	G/F	6-5	Fr.	Richmond, Va

 
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

Name	School	Pos.	Ht.	Cl.	Hometown
Dejuan Clayton	Coppin State	G	6-2	Fr.	Bowie, Md.
Charles Williams	Howard	G/F	6-5	Fr.	Richmond, Va.
Jermaine Marrow	Hampton	G	6-0	Fr.	Newport News, Va.
Zach Sellers	Savannah State	G	6-1	Fr.	Cheraw, S.C.
Robert Kelly, Jr.	Savannah State	F	6-7	Fr.	Powder Springs, Ga.