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Thiam nets second Region XI laurel

T-R FILE PHOTO • MCC sophomore forward Mohamed Thiam (4) shoots against Northeast during their Region XI first-round game Feb. 26 in Marshalltown.

AMES — The Iowa Community College Athletic Conference announced the 2017-18 Division I Region XI all-region teams on Tuesday, and Marshalltown Community college sophomore Mohamed Thiam was named as a first-team selection.

Thiam, a 6-foot-9 forward from Dakar, Senegal, led the Tigers in scoring and rebounding during his sophomore campaign with 19.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He also ranked third in the conference as a whole in points per game and rebounds per game. His 47.1 percent shooting clip was top-12 in the conference, and he ranked first in total minutes played this season and first in points scored in conference play with 154. His 592 total points is good for 16th in the entire NJCAA this season.

Thiam, who was an all-region honorable mention his freshman season, has received visits from the likes of Kansas State, Memphis and SMU, showing he’s garnered attention from some larger NCAA Division I schools. He is currently the sixth-ranked junior college prospect by JucoRecruiting.com.

Joining Thiam on the all-region team was freshman guard Oscar Kao, who earned second-team honors during his first season playing with MCC.

Kao, a 6-foot guard from Taipei, Taiwan, finished second in the conference in 3-point percentage with a 38.8 percent clip from deep. His 21-48 mark behind the line in ICCAC play was also good for second, and he finished seventh in the conference in steals with eight during ICCAC play.

Mohamed Thiam and Oscar Kao

Kao was ninth in total points scored with 403 and ninth in points per game with 13.4. He also logged the second-most minutes played this season, just behind Thiam.

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