Posted by Press Democrat Staff Writer Michael Coit:

Following a season of marked improvement, Matt Cousins earned all-conference honors for his play on the Chaminade University basketball team.

The former Cardinal Newman and Santa Rosa Junior College player received honorable mention in the All-PacWest Conference selections.

Cousins’ was second on the Silverswords scoring 12 points a game and second in rebounding with 6.5 boards per contest. Chaminade’s most accurate shooter at 54.8 percent, Cousins ranked fifth in the league in field goal percentage. He also made 73.6 percent of his free throw attempts to finish 13th in the PacWest.

A starter in all but one game for Chaminade, an NCAA Division II school, the sophomore already is playing a lead role as the Silverswords look to continue improving. This year’s team was young, but finished strong despite a 10-15 record on the season. Chaminade finished in a tie for fifth place in the nine-team conference.

After opening at center due to injuries to other players, Cousins’ moved to power forward and his scoring increased significantly.

Highlights on the season included leading the Silverswords in scoring six times and topping the rebounding column nine times.

Cousins also played in the prestigious Maui Invitational Tournament. The Silverswords host the nationally televised event and this year played Maryland and Vanderbilt – a pair of NCAA tournament teams – and Colorado.