Birrell, Royce roll onto NABC Honors Court

NEWPORT, R.I. - Two members of the 2010-11 Salve Regina men's basketball team were selected to the NABC Honors Court. Seniors Ryan Birrell (Hope, R.I.) and Daniel Royce (Mahwah, N.J.) were recognized as two of the collegiate basketball student-athletes who excelled in academics during the 2010-11 season.

Birrell, a business major, led the Seahawks in rebounding (166 in 28 games, one more than Royce's 165, for 5.9 per game average) while also scoring 12.7 points per game. In his third full season with the program, he led the Seahawks to their third conference championship and first since 1995, when head coach Sean Foster was in his first season as a player. Birrell led all Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) players in assists, averaging 6.3 assists per game, two more per game than the second-ranked player.

Royce, an education major, co-captained the Seahawks along with Birrell while ranking fifth in the league if field goal percentage (.516). He played in all 28 games, scoring 11 in Salve Regina's championship overtime win at Wentworth Institute of Technology and leading the Seahawks with 16 points in the first-round NCAA Division III Championships at Western Connecticut State University. He finished his career ranked 18th on the school's all-time scoring list (958 points) and fifth all-time in rebounding (649 rebounds).

Both earned undergraduate degrees from the university in May while Birrell returns for the 2011-12 season as a graduate student.

In order to be named to the Honors Court, a student-athlete must meet a high standard of academic criteria. The qualifications are as follows:

1. Academically a junior or senior and a varsity player.

2. Cumulative G.P.A. of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2010-11 academic year.

3. Students must have matriculated at least one year at their current institution.

4. Member of an NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA Institution.