Men's Basketball | 3/18/2025 4:10:40 PM
Empire 8 men’s basketball standouts Jaylen Savage of Nazareth University, Jajuan Preaster and Lou Bellamy of Houghton University, SUNY Brockport's Mekhi Beckett and Damien Call of Utica University were named to the 2024-25 D3hoops.com Region III Team on Tuesday, March 18. Savage was named a first team selection, while Preaster earned second team honors. Beckett, Bellamy and Call garnered third team accolades.
Savage, the 2025 Empire 8 Player of the Year, enjoyed another banner season for the Golden Flyers, as he led all Empire 8 players in scoring, averaging 21.0 points per game, shooting 87.9 percent from the foul line to go along with 6.1 boards and 1.6 steals per game. A native of Elmsford, NY, he averaged 21.1 points on 47 percent shooting from the floor in league play this season. Savage, who has 1,281 points in three seasons with the Golden Flyers, scored at least 20 points in 15 different games this season, including four different 30-point outings. He averaged 28.5 points in two E8 Tournament games this season on his way to earning E8 All-Tournament Team accolades.
Preaster finished second in the Empire 8 in scoring, averaging 17.2 points per game in 2024-25, while appearing in 24 games. The Orlando, FL native scored at least 20 points in 10 different games this season and shot nearly 54 percent from the floor. He finished his career with the Highlanders with 1,482 points to go along with 554 rebounds. Preaster averaged 15.1 points per game in 98 career contests.
Bellamy, a native of Tampa, FL, finished third in the Empire 8 in scoring this season, averaging 16.6 points per game, while leading the league in rebounding, collecting 9.1 caroms per contest. Bellamy had nine double-doubles on the season, including a 38-point, 15-rebound outing against Hilbert on Nov. 20.
Beckett, who hails from Westbury, NY, led the Golden Eagles to the E8 regular season title and trip to the league semifinals. An All-Empire 8 first team selection, Beckett led the high-flying Golden Eagles in scoring, averaging 13.0 points per game in just 24 minutes per contest, while draining 64 shots from beyond the arc at a 42 percent clip.
Call, a native of Rome, NY, averaged 13.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game in 2024-25 en route to earning All-E8 first team accolades. He was named the 2025 Empire 8 Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player after averaging 13.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 59.3 percent from the floor (16-of-27) in three E8 postseason contests. Call , the 2021 E8 Rookie of the Year, finished his illustrious Utica career by winning three Empire 8 Championships and helping lead the Pioneers to a 101-23 record in five seasons. He scored 1,118 points and grabbed 655 rebounds in his Utica career.
Players were nominated for the D3hoops.com awards by the Sports Information Directors. The ballot was then made available to SIDs, who voted for a predetermined number of players in their region. Players from these lists are eligible for the
D3hoops.com All-America teams, which will be released Saturday, March 22.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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