WATERVILLE, Maine – University of Maine at Farmington seniors Terion Moss and Jack Kane earned the North Atlantic Conference men’s basketball Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards respectively, while Northern Vermont-Lyndon first year Gregory Gonyea Jr. was tabbed for Rookie of the Year honors, when the NAC’s 2022-23 men’s basketball post-season honorees were announced Thursday.

UMaine-Farmington Head Coach Sam Leal was named the NAC Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year. Northern Vermont-Lyndon’s Antonio Carlisle earned the NAC Senior Scholar Athlete award for men’s basketball.

Moss finished the Beavers’ regular-season conference slate averaging a conference-best 24.6 points to go with 4.9 rebounds. He averaged 4.9 assists in conference games this season, good enough for third among NAC assists leaders. Overall, Moss scored in double figures in 24 games during the 2022-23 campaign, including six games with 30-or-more points. Moss netted his season-high of 38 points on January 27 against UMaine-Presque Isle. He currently ranks third among NCAA Division III leaders in scoring with 24.1 points per game, and is second in field goals made with 222. Moss earned NAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week honors four times during the 2022-23 season. In his three-plus years at UMaine-Farmington, Moss has amassed 1,635 career points.

This is Moss’ second selection as NAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, after previously earning the award in 2020, and the third time a UMaine-Farmington men’s basketball player has received the NAC’s top playing award in men’s hoops since Ben Johnson was tabbed for the accolade in 2013.

Kane tallied 72 total blocks during the 2022-23 season, including 40 over 16 NAC regular season games. He ranks eighth among NCAA Division III total blocks leaders, and averages 2.8 per game (12th among Division III statistical leaders). On the boards, Kane hauled down 153 defensive rebounds, an average of 5.88 per game, on his way to 218 total rebounds (8.4 per game). In conference play, Kane amassed 98 defensive boards to average 6.1 per contest. At the offensive end of the court, Kane averaged 14.3 points for the season and was ranked 17th among conference scoring leaders, and his .540 (141-of-261) shooting percentage from the floor placed him second among NAC leaders. Kane earned NAC Defensive Player of the Week accolades four times during the season.

Kane is the second UMaine-Farmington player to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining Ben Johnson (2012).

Northern Vermont-Lyndon’s Gonyea averaged 15.9 points and 3.6 rebounds during conference play over the course of his rookie season with the Hornets, and recorded an impressive .538 (85-of-158) field goal percentage. Across all 24 games played in 2022-23, he averaged 12.8 points and recorded 13 double-digit scoring performances, charting a season-high 31 points on January 27 against Maine Maritime Academy. Gonyea was named NAC Rookie of the Week three times during the 2022-23 season.

Gonyea is the third Northern Vermont-Lyndon player to capture the Rookie of the Year accolade in men’s basketball, joining Phil Warrick (2011) and Kevin Love (2016).

Leal is in his second season mentoring UMaine-Farmington men’s basketball on the court after taking over the program in April 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic, following the retirement of legendary Head Coach Dick Meader. A four-year letterwinner (2010-2014) for the Beavers, he currently holds a career head coaching record of 35-15. Leal’s Coach of the Year honor marks the fifth time the award has gone to the UMaine-Farmington head men’s basketball coach, joining Meader’s four Coach of the Year awards in 2010, 2013, 2017, and 2020.

A four-year member of the Northern Vermont-Lyndon men’s basketball team, Carlisle is a three-year captain of the Hornets. Over his career, Carlisle has tallied 765 points over 75 games, an average of 10.2 points including 11.4 points during his senior campaign. He is a career .372 shooter from behind the three-point line, and has a .782 percentage at the free-throw line.

In the classroom, Carlisle has maintained a 3.70 grade point average while studying exercise science with a minor in music business & industry. He has interned with the Division I athletic program at the University of Vermont as well as at several local gyms and fitness facilities, and he has also served as a student strength and conditioning coach within the exercise science department. Carlisle has also done one-on-one strength and basketball training.  In the community, Carlisle has volunteered his time mentoring and teaching basketball to area youth, and he has volunteered at the Caledonia County Fair. Following graduation in May, Carlisle plans to enroll in graduate school to pursue a master's degree in exercise science.

Carlisle is the second NVU-Lyndon men’s basketball player to earn the Senior Scholar Athlete award, joining Zach Falkenburg who earned the honor last season.

In addition to the top conference awards, 15 student-athletes were named to the All-Conference First, Second, and Third Teams, and 12 were named to the NAC Men's Basketball Sportsmanship Team. The Sportsmanship Team is reserved for those who distinguish themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior. The honorees have positively affected the sport culture and game environment by clearly demonstrating sportsmanship and integrity beyond playing rules and etiquette.

The complete list of North Atlantic Conference men’s basketball award recipients, All-Conference, and Sportsmanship Team selections is below:

Player of the Year – Terion Moss, UMaine-Farmington
Defensive Player of the Year – Jack Kane, UMaine-Farmington
Rookie of the Year – Gregory Gonyea Jr., Northern Vermont-Lyndon
Senior Scholar Athlete – Antonio Carlisle, Northern Vermont-Lyndon
Coach of the Year – Sam Leal, UMaine-Farmington

All-North Atlantic Conference
First Team
Jack Kane, UMaine-Farmington
Justice Kendall, Husson
Terion Moss, UMaine-Farmington
Jesse O’Dell, SUNY Poly
Christian Sage, Cazenovia

Second Team
Jacob Beach, SUNY Delhi
Kobe Bogart, Cazenovia
Quran DuBois, SUNY Canton
Griffin Guerrette, UMaine-Presque Isle
Lester McCarthy, SUNY Delhi

Third Team
Isiah Barnes, SUNY Delhi
Curt Heinz, Maine Maritime
Jeremy Moronta, Husson
Peyton Olsen, Northern Vermont-Lyndon
Andre Starks, SUNY Cobleskill

Sportsmanship Team
SUNY Canton – Juan Lamarche
Cazenovia – Christian Seabrook
SUNY Cobleskill – Quanire Greene
SUNY Delhi – Naphtali Regilus
UMaine-Farmington - Mark Mayo
Husson – J Thomas
Northern Vermont-Johnson – Malik Moore
Northern Vermont-Lyndon – Brett Roy
Maine Maritime – Max Tomlin
SUNY Poly – Jarrett Wilbur
UMaine-Presque Isle – Charlie Mellick
Thomas College – Jacob Bouchard