HADLEY, Mass. -- Bates men's basketball junior forward Babacar Pouye is a first team All-NESCAC selection, as announced Wednesday by the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

Pouye (Carpinteria, Calif.) is the first Bobcat to earn first team All-NESCAC in men's basketball since Marcus Delpeche '17 in 2017. A second team All-NESCAC pick a year ago, Pouye is the first two-time All-NESCAC selection for Bates since Brian Ellis '11.

Pouye is averaging a team-high 14.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game this season while shooting .532 from the field. He has improved his scoring, rebounding, and shooting percentage every season since first stepping on campus in the fall of 2023.

The Bobcats have improved as a team alongside him, making the NESCAC semifinals for the first time since 2012 and getting selected for their first NCAA Division III tournament appearance since the 2014-15 season. Bates is 18-8 and takes on Yeshiva Friday at 1 p.m. on the campus of Montclair State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.