By Taylor Hodges
FHU Sports Information Director
Konstantin Dotsenko, Bryan Battle and Kortland Martin of the Lions basketball team were all named to AMC All-Conference teams, the league announced on Monday following the conference championship game.
Dotsenko was named the Freshman of the Year, Second-Team All-AMC and to the All-Freshman team after his incredible first-year campaign on this new-look Lions team.
He finished the season third in the conference in scoring, averaging just under 18 points per game. He was lights out from behind the arc, shooting over 40 percent, knocking down a league-leading 98 threes. He scored at least 20 points in nine games, including a 29-point contest in the second matchup against Martin Methodist, where he went 6-for-8 from behind the arc.
Martin picked up right where he left off from his sophomore season after being named to the Third-Team All-AMC a season ago. The junior guard averaged barely under 17 points per game and set a new single-season FHU record with 44 points on the final regular-season home game against Missouri Baptist while going 15-of-24 from the field and 8-of-12 from deep. He was fifth in the conference in scoring and second in three-pointer made per game, knocking down 3.2 per contest.
Battle came into his first and only year with the Lions this season and made an immediate impact from the first game at Martin Methodist. He was named the second AMC Player of the Week after averaging a double-double in his first week, and he finished the season as the team leader in rebounds, pulling down over seven per game. He averaged 16.2 points per game which was sixth in the AMC, and he will compete in the NAIA All-Star game on the day of the National Championship game on March 24 in Kansas City.
This is the first time the Lions have placed two guys on the First Team since the 2015-16 season when Orlando Bass and Isaiah Harrison made the cut.
“I’m so proud of our team this year. Their willingness to buy into their individual roles allowed guys like Kortland, Konstantin and Bryan to flourish,” first-year head coach Drew Stutts said.
“All three of these young men are deserving of each award, and I couldn’t be prouder of each of them. They have all put in the time and work it takes to be special players. In addition to being talented on the floor, these guys are great teammates and represent our program well off the floor as well.”
The Lions finished fourth in the conference after being picked to finish last in the preseason poll.
They won 18 games after winning a combined 17 in the last two seasons.
