Click here to view the NESCAC men’s basketball All-Conference release.

Bates College head coach Joe Reilly was named Coach of the Year and juniors Zak Ray and Rob Stockwell each made the All-NESCAC Second Team for the second year in a row as postseason honors were announced for men’s basketball Wednesday by the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

Reilly, in his ninth season as head coach at Bates, led the Bobcats to the best season in program history, going 20-6 and setting school records for wins in a season, regular-season wins (19) and longest winning streak (16). The Bobcats advanced to the NESCAC Semifinals for the third consecutive year. This followed a 2004-05 campaign in which Bates established a previous program-high 19 wins.

Reilly was named the Maine Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Association and New England Basketball Hall of Fame Coach of the Year following Bates’ 18-8 season in 2003-04.

Ray, a 5-11 point guard from Bangor, Maine, served as co-captain of the Bobcats and was unquestionably the team’s floor leader.

Perhaps the best perimeter defender in the conference, Ray led the NESCAC in steals per game (2.50). He was also fourth in assists (5.38 apg), 12th in free-throw percentage (.750) and 19th in scoring (12.4 ppg). Ray netted a career-high 30 points in Bates’ final game, a loss to Amherst in the NESCAC semifinal.

Stockwell, a 6-5 power forward from Temple, N.H., was one of the premier rebounders and low-post scorers in the conference, and he also made 28 3-pointers over the course of the season.

Stockwell was the eighth-leading scorer in the NESCAC, at 15.8 points per game, and he ranked second in rebounding with 9.8 boards per game. On Jan. 27 at home against Connecticut College, Stockwell became the 26th Bates man to reach the 1,000-point plateau. He has since climbed into 19th place on the all-time Bates scoring list, with 1,115 points.

For the first time in Bates history, the men’s and women’s basketball teams both finished in the top four of NESCAC, giving the Bobcats homecourt advantage in two first-round playoff games this Saturday.

Ranked No. 3 in NESCAC, the men’s team will host No. 6 Williams at 2 p.m. at Alumni Gymnasium. The women, ranked No. 2 in the conference, will play No. 7 Tufts University at 4 p.m. Admission to both games is free and open to the public.The men’s team finished the regular season 17-7 and 6-3 in NESCAC. Against Trinity on Feb. 12, center Elliott Linsley ’05 (Murrieta, Calif.) secured Bates’ third-place finish, draining an 18-footer from the right wing as time expired. The Bobcats won 69-67.

Rob Stockwell ’07 (Temple, N.H.) led the Bobcats this season, averaging 16 points and eight rebounds per game. Point guard Zak Ray ’07 (Bangor, Maine) averaged 12 points with five assists, while senior Brian Gerrity (Augusta, Maine) averaged 13 points per game. On Dec. 11, Gerrity became the 26th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.

Finishing the regular season 22-1 and 8-1 in NESCAC, the women’s team ranks No. 1 in the D3hoops.com national poll and No. 2 in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches’ Poll.

The Bobcats only loss came against then No. 1 Bowdoin on Jan. 14. The Bobcats won their next 10 games, including a 74-62 win over Bowdoin on Feb. 1, but the Jan. 14 matchup was a conference game, giving the Polar Bears top seed in NESCAC.

Bates and Bowdoin finished a combined 4-0 against Colby this season, meaning the Bobcats’ win in February deferred the CBB title — and ultimate bragging rights — to the NESCAC tournament. Bates and Bowdoin could face each other in the NESCAC championship game next weekend for the third time in as many years.

Forward Olivia Zurek (Arlington, Mass.) averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds per game her senior year. She recorded 14 double-doubles in 23 games and was named NESCAC Player of the Week three times. She scored her 1,000th career point on Nov. 23 and finished the regular season as Bates’ all-time leading rebounder (838). With 1,348 career points, Zurek ranks third in scoring.

Meg Coffin ’07 (Westford, Mass.) provided a presence on the blocks this season, averaging 12 points and seven rebounds per game; she finished the year with three double-doubles.

The men’s and women’s teams faired well against their playoff opponents during the regular season. The men beat Williams on the road, 80-70, while the women beat Tufts, 76-66, also away from Alumni Gymnasium.

For the latest sports news, scores and updates, visit the Bates Athletics Web site.

Ray ’07 (Bangor, Maine) was a New England Small College Athletic Conference Co-Rookie of the Year after finishing the season ranked fourth in the league in assists and steals, sixth in assist/turnover ratio, and seventh in free throw percentage. His season assist total of 113 is the most by a Bates rookie since Matt LaPointe ’03 recorded 157 in the 1999-2000 season.

Ray also provided perhaps the most memorable moment of the 2003-04 season for Bates, hitting a 30-foot buzzer beater to give Bates a 65-62 win over Tufts on Jan. 24 in Medford, Mass.

The first player off the bench, Ray averaged nearly 27 minutes a game. Prior to coming to Bates, Ray led Bangor High School to a state championship title and earned Mr. Maine Basketball honors.