Baker named Player of the Year among 3 from LSU earning All-RRAC honors

WACO, Texas – After finishing the season as the NAIA’s top scorer, Louisiana Christian University men’s basketball’s Kae’ron Baker was named the Red River Athletic Conference’s Player of the Year, highlighting three Wildcats who earned All-Conference awards that the conference announced on Saturday night.

Baker, a graduate guard from Navasota, Texas, finished the regular season as the top scorer in the entire NAIA, averaging 25.0 points per game. He hit 44.2% of his shots while hitting a team-high 66 three-pointers and 175 free throws. On the defensive end, he led the team with 51 steals on the season. Baker was a three-time All-American Southwest Conference East Division player and last year was named All-American Southwest Conference before adding this year’s awards.

Malik Cooper, a senior forward from Shreveport, La., earned a spot on the All-RRAC Second Team. Cooper led the Wildcats in shooting percentage, hitting 56.8% of his shots while averaging 11.3 points per game on the season while also grabbing a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game. His 87.7% free throw percentage was best on the team for all players who took more than 50 free throw attempts. This is Cooper’s first career postseason conference award.

Jordan Adebutu, a senior guard from Lafayette, La., was named an All-RRAC Honorable Mention. The first year Wildcat averaged 10.6 points and hit 30 three-point attempts after joining the team in December. He also averaged 3.6 rebounds per game. This is Adebutu’s first RRAC postseason award, having just finished his fourth season playing in the conference.

Caleb Howe was also recognized as the team’s representative on the conference’s Champions of Character team for his work both on and off the court.

The Wildcats (13-13), the four-seed from the RRAC’s East Division, look to start a run in the Red River Athletic Conference Championship Tournament on Sunday as they take on the RRAC West Division Champion, Texas A&M-Texarkana, in the quarterfinal. Tip-off of Sunday’s quarterfinal game against the Eagles (16-7) is set for 8:15 P.M. at the Rapides Parish Coliseum in Alexandria.