BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. - For the second straight season, Bryce Butler has been named the Mountain East Conference Player of the Year. Butler also earned a spot on first team All-MEC and teammates Malik McKinney and Christian Montague were tabbed second team, in the MEC Men's Basketball Awards announced by the conference office today.

Butler, a 6'5" guard from Latrobe, Pa, followed up last year's Atlantic Region and MEC Player of the Year honors with another impressive season to become the third back-to-back MEC Player of the Year in conference history alongside WLU's Dalton Bolon in 2019-20 and 2020-21 and Seger Bonifant in 2014-15 and 2015-16. The Hilltoppers have now had the last four MEC Player of the Year honorees and seven in the 10 year history of the league.

Butler led the MEC in scoring and was 11th in DII at 22.5 points per game, while making the the second-most field goals of any DII player (257). He shot 59.2% from the floor in the regular season, the third-best mark in the conference. Butler also led the team in rebounding, at 7.2 boards per game, the fourth-most in the MEC, ranked fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.92), and averaged 3.6 assists per game. He recorded his seventh double-double of the season in the regular season finale with 23 points and a season-high 13 rebounds to help finish a perfect home record for the Hilltoppers (14-0). Butler netted double digits in all 28 regular season contests, he scored 20-plus 21 times, and had three 30-point outings. He was West Liberty's leading scorer in 20 of the 28 games. Butler was named MEC Player of the Week five times this season and collected D2CIDA National Player of the Week honors on December 13 after hitting a game-winner over West Virginia State.

McKinney, a senior guard from Bowie, Md., started in 27 games for the Hilltoppers this season and has earned his first all-conference honor of his career. He eclipsed 1,000 career points this season becoming the 55th member of the 1,000-point club at West Liberty. McKinney averaged 12.3 points per game and had 17 double-digit outings including six straight to end the regular season. He was second on the team shooting 55.3% and shot 80.6% from the free throw line, the seventh-best clip in the MEC, over 103 attempts.

Montague, a 6'1" guard from Dayton, Ohio, averaged 12.3 points and a team-best 3.9 assists, which also ranked sixth in the MEC, while starting all 28 games for the Black and Gold. He was second in the MEC and 19th in DII with a 2.75 assist-to-turnover ratio. This is his first All-MEC honor after earning a pair of All-G-MAC selections as a member of the Walsh Cavaliers. In year two on the hilltop, he went over 1,000 career points between Walsh and West Liberty this season. Montague scored a career-high 30 points in the win over Fairmont State to clinch the regular season title and netted double digits 18 times this season. He led the team with a 44.8% three-point shooting percentage and was second in three pointers per game (2.14), ranking eighth in the conference. Montague also was second on the team and seventh in the MEC with 43 steals.

Davis & Elkins' head coach Daniel Mondragon was named Coach of the Year, while Charleston's CJ Meredith earned Freshman of the Year honors. View the full all-conference list here.

West Liberty is the No. 1 seed in this week's MEC Tournament at WesBanco Arena after winning its sixth straight regular season title and 13th in the last 14 years across the WVIAC and MEC. The Hilltoppers will start their title quest on Friday night at 6 pm in the quarterfinals versus the winner of Alderson Broaddus and Concord. For bracket, tickets, and more information on the MEC Tournament visit the Tournament Central page here.

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