Five members of the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) men's basketball team and head coach Josh Sash have earned postseason honors from the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC).
Sophomores Demarion Bariffe-Smith of Skokie, Ill., and Zach Lester of Clear Lake were named to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XI All-Region First Team and freshmen Ryan Schmitt of Van Meter and Willie Guy of Cedar Rapids earned second-team honors. Sophomore Barlow Alleruzzo of Chicago, Ill., was named to the third team and Sash was named the Coach of the Year.
Bariffe-Smith led the Bears in scoring with 452 points and a 13.7 average. He shot 52 percent from the field, connecting on 158 of 302 field goal attempts. Bariffe-Smith was 46-of-109 from three-point range for 42 percent and made 61 of 72 free throw attempts for 81 percent. He finished fifth in the ICCAC in three-point percentage. Bariffe-Smith also led DMACC in rebounding with 252 rebounds, including 179 defensive rebounds, averaging 7.6 rebonds a game. His season also included 66 assists, 39 steals and 18 blocked shots.
Lester finished just behind Bariffe-Smith in scoring with 435 points and a 13.6 average. He shot 48 percent from the field, making 156 of 324 shots. Lester led the Bears in three-point shots with 61 and shot 38 percent from beyond the arc with those 61 field goals coming from 160 attempts. He was 62-of-91 from the free throw line for 68 percent and his season also included 118 rebounds, 81 assists, 53 steals and two blocked shots.
Schmitt led the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) in field goal percentage at 60 percent with 171 field goals in 285 attempts. He scored 416 points, averaging 12.6 points a game. Schmitt was 73-of-112 from the free throw line for 65 percent and came away with 226 rebounds, including 153 defensive rebounds, averaging 6.8 rebounds a game. His season also included 51 assists, 23 steals and a team-high 64 blocked shots, finishing second in the ICCAC.
Guy finished the season with 284 points, averaging 8.6 points a game. He shot 42 percent from the field, hitting 91 of 218 field goal attempts. Guy was 31-of-101 from three-point range for 31 percent and made 71 of 91 free throw attempts for 78 percent. Guy's season also included 107 rebounds, a team-high 186 assists, 29 steals and three blocked shots. Guy finished second in the ICCAC in assists.
Alleruzzo scored 300 points on the season, averaging 9.4 points a game. He shot 42 percent from the field, making 102 of 244 field goal attempts. Alleruzzo was 35-of-110 from three-point range for 32 percent and 61-of-75 from the free throw line for 81 percent. Alleruzzo's season also included 196 rebounds, 25 assists, 12 steals and 11 blocked shots.
Sash has directed the Bears to a 29-4 record and a berth in the NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship thus far in 2019-20 in his first season as head coach. DMACC shared the ICCAC regular season championship with Kirkwood Community College (KCC) at 12-2 and won its first NJCAA Region XI championship since 2015. The Bears, making their first appearance in the national tournament since 2015, take a seven-game winning streak into their first tournament game.