Cornell College senior center Chris Handke (Bellevue/Bellevue) and senior forward Matt Lewis (Augusta, Ill./Southeastern), who guided the Rams to a school-best 36 wins over the past two seasons, were both honored Wednesday on the All-Iowa Conference Men’s Basketball First Team.
Junior guard J. Ryan Lott (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) was selected to the league’s second team, giving the Rams three all-conference picks for the second consecutive season. Handke was recognized for the second year in a row, earning second team accolades in 2008-09.
The Rams joined Central as the only schools with two first team honorees. Central, which claimed the IIAC regular-season and tournament titles, fielded the league’s Most Valuable Player in Miguel Ley and Coach of the Year in Mike Boschee.
Handke, Lewis and Lott led Cornell to its first back-to-back winning seasons in 16 years. The Rams finished 15-11 overall and took fifth in the IIAC with a 9-7 mark under first-year head coach Chad Murray.
“This is a great honor and very well-deserved for all three guys,” Murray said. “The nice thing is that the other coaches in the conference recognized their efforts.”
Handke was the staple to one of the league’s top defensive teams. The 6-foot-11 post led all IIAC players in blocked shots (2.0 bpg), rebounds (9.8 rpg), offensive rebounds (3.27 rpg) and defensive rebounds (6.58 rpg). Handke finished eighth in the league in scoring (13.4 ppg) while shooting 51.1 percent from the field.
Handke, named IIAC Player of the Week Dec. 6, 2009, ranked second on Cornell’s single-season list with 256 rebounds in 2009-10. He racked up 11 double-doubles, including a 15-point, 10-rebound effort in only 23 minutes in his final collegiate game at Dubuque. Handke owns school records for blocked shots in a game (8), season (52) and career (141). He made 89 starts in 103 career games and finished with 853 points and 670 rebounds.
Lewis, the team’s emotional leader and a fifth-year player in the program, was the lone Ram to start all 26 games this past season. The 6-4 swingman ranked third in the IIAC in free throw percentage (81.8), fifth in defensive rebounds (4.54 rpg), sixth in total rebounds (6.7 rpg), seventh in scoring (13.5 ppg) and eighth in offensive rebounds (2.12 rpg). Lewis’ 117 made free throws are third-best in a season at Cornell.
Lewis reached double figures scoring in 13 of his last 14 games and tallied four double-doubles, highlighted with a 16-point, 10-rebound effort in the finale against Dubuque. He was named IIAC Player of the Week Dec. 21, 2009. Lewis appeared in 93 games with the Rams, starting 52. He wound up with career totals of 659 points and 341 rebounds.
Lott led the Rams in scoring at 13.7 points per game, good for sixth in the conference. He was second in the IIAC in steals (1.81 spg) and seventh in assists (2.73 apg). Lott topped the 20-point mark five times, capped with a season-high 30 at Lakeland Jan. 3.
Lott was second on the team with 29 made 3-point goals and shot 70.7 percent from the foul line. He also averaged 3.7 rebounds. Lott is one of three returning starters back for 2010-11.