April 17, 2006

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - During the recently-concluded men's basketball season, Santa Clara's inside-outside duo of Brody Angley and Travis Niesen accounted for more than 40 percent of the team's offense. On Wednesday night at the team's annual awards banquet, the duo were honored as the team's co-Most Valuable Players.

Angley, a native of Redding, Calif. and Niesen, who hails from Mission Viejo, Calif., shared the program's highest honor, while Angley earned the Best Defensive Player award. In addition, the duo also shared honors as the recipients of the Bruce Hale Most Inspirational Player award. Sophomore guard John Burke earned the Nick Vanos Most Improved Player award.

The four annual awards are voted on by the members of the team and are presented each year by head coach Dick Davey at the team's annual season-ending banquet. This year's event was held in the Benson Center's Willimon Room on the Mission Campus.

In addition to handing-out the team awards, the banquet provided an opportunity to celebrate the recently completed season and honor the team's departing senior members. This season, Niesen was the sole graduating senior player, while Jennifer Barmasse was recognized for her dedication as the team's manager.

Niesen, who finished third in the West Coast Conference in scoring and was an all-league selection, completed his four-year career with 1,380 points, good for 13th on the school's all-time scoring list. He played in 117 career games, tying Brian Jones for the sixth-most in Bronco history.

Angley, the WCC leader in steals and assist-turnover ratio, averaged 10.1 point per game and handed out 142 assists, the eight-best single-season total in school history.

Burke, a walk-on from Lake Forest, Ill., saw action in 14 games last season and served as one of the team's most reliable backcourt players.