The University of Maine’s Kellen Tynes has been named America East’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 2023-24 men’s basketball season.
The 6-foot-3 junior guard from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, won the award for the second consecutive season on Thursday afternoon, leading the Conference in steals with 2.3 per game, and serving as the centerpiece of UMaine’s defense which forced 13.1 turnovers (most in America East) and allowed just 66.9 points per game (second-best in America East).
Tynes also tallied 12.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 0.4 blocks per game this year, propelling the Black Bears to a 15-16 overall record and the Conference’s No. 6 seed — its highest since 2016. Tynes’ contributions on both sides of the ball also earned him all-Conference third-team honors.
“It feels really good. It’s already hard to win it once,” Tynes said. “Markwood and the other coaches have given me a great opportunity to run with [my abilities]. It really speaks to our team defense. I get a lot of steals because of our other guys.”
Last year, Tynes was the NCAA’s leading ball stealer with 98 (3.26 per game), but played decidedly less risky this year, instead opting to stay in front of his man and force bad shots.
“If you look at the box scores, a lot of guards didn’t shoot well against me this year,” Tynes said. “Last year I gambled a lot, and this year the coaches wanted me to make guys take tough shots. Overall, guys shot worse against me.”
Tynes played his first two years of college ball at Montana State, averaging 2.5 points and 0.8 steals per game, before UMaine head coach Chris Markwood recruited him via the transfer portal prior to the 2022-23 season.
Tynes is an academic senior, with one more year of athletic eligibility remaining. He did not participate in Senior Day on Tuesday, and it remains unclear whether he’ll return to UMaine next year.
“I’d recruited him in high school when I was an assistant at Northeastern University. His defense always jumped out at you,” Markwood said. “He’s the one who gets us going on that side of the ball. He really takes pride in his defense. When he’s locked in, there’s not many better.”
UMaine senior forward Peter Filipovity was also recognized by America East on Thursday, being named to the all-Conference second-team. The 6-foot-7 Hungarian started all 31 regular season games for UMaine, and led the Black Bears in scoring (14.4 points per game on 56.6 percent shooting) and rebounding (7.7 rpg). He also tacked on 1.1 steals per game.
