Chris Pugh is UMBC's first America East Defensive Team representative

Brian Hodges has scored 28 and 33 points respectively in UMBC's opening round America East games the last two seasons

Boston, Mass.—UMBC junior guard Brian Hodges earned All America East Second Team and All Academic Team honors at the annual America East Conference Awards Brunch held at Fenway Park. In addition, Retriever senior guard Chris Pugh was named to the league’s All Defensive Team, becoming the first UMBC player to ever earn that honor.

Hodges finished fourth in the league in scoring at 15.1 points per game and was a two-time America East Player of the Week. He became the 14^th player in school history to hit the 1,000-point plateau and just the fourth UMBC Division I player to amass 1,000 points in three seasons.  Hodges becomes the second Retriever to earn Second Team honors as John Zito received the same honor a season ago. He was also one of five players (all All Conference nominees) to be named to the All Academic Team.

Pugh averaged a career-best 8.8 points per game this season, but has always been the assignment of shutting down the league’s top perimeter threats. He is currently ninth on UMBC’s all-time steals list with 130.

The fifth-seeded Retrievers open tournament play on Saturday, when they take on fourth-seeded Maine at 2:30 p.m. Both teams tied for fourth at 7-9 in the league and the two squads split a pair of games during the regular season. The game can be heard on V1370 or www.v1370.com or can be seen on www.americaeast.com.