SAULT STE. MARIE — Three Lake Superior State University men’s basketball players earned Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors Friday following the conclusion of the regular season. Redshirt sophomore Omar Suleiman was named to the All-GLIAC First Team, junior Nino Carter-Smith received Second Team honors and redshirt freshman Karter Richards was voted the GLIAC Freshman of the Year.
The awards come as the Lakers enter the GLIAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed. The team finished the regular season on an eight-game winning streak, the longest active streak in the conference, after going seven-one during the month of February.
Suleiman, a redshirt sophomore, was selected for the All-GLIAC First Team after averaging 17.6 points per game this season. He ranks fifth in the conference in scoring and second in the league in three-point percentage at 41.7%. Suleiman also ranks 16th nationally for made three-pointers, averaging three per contest.Suleiman recently set a school record for three-pointers in a single game during a 44-point performance against Purdue Northwest on Wednesday. He shot 10-of-12 from beyond the arc and scored the game-winning points in overtime. His season also included a 32-point outing against St. Cloud State on Nov. 21 and 24 points in a February victory over No. 15 Grand Valley State University.
Junior guard Carter-Smith earned Second Team All-GLIAC honors while leading the conference in steals. Carter-Smith averaged 2.2 steals per game, ranking him 31st in the nation and finished the regular season with 66 total steals. He also ranks fourth in the GLIAC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.10.
As a playmaker, Carter-Smith averaged 4.8 assists and 10.8 points per game. He recorded double-digit assists in two separate games in February, including 11 assists against Grand Valley State and 10 against Ferris State. On Nov. 22, he posted a season-high six steals along with 24 points in a game against the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Richards, a native of Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., was named the GLIAC Freshman of the Year following a mid-season move into the starting lineup. The six-foot-Three guard began the year as a rotational player before becoming a fixture in the lineup on Jan. 29. He has shot more than 50% from the field in each of his 11 starts to date.
Richards recorded a career-high 25 points and seven rebounds in a victory at Wayne State on Feb. 26. He followed that by shooting six-for-six from the floor against Purdue Northwest two days later. His performances this season earned him GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors and two honorable mentions for Offensive Player of the Week.