The tremendous backcourt duo of the Muhlenberg men's basketball team earned regional recognition.

Junior Giovanni Rubino was named to the All-District 5 second team by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the All-Region 5 second team by D3hoops.com. Graduate student Dan Gaines made the third team on the D3hoops.com squad.

It's only the second time in program history that the Mules have had two all-district/all-region selections in the same season. The other time was 1986.

Rubino had a breakout season to earn a spot on the All-Centennial Conference first team. After averaging 9.0 points per game in his first collegiate season, he more than doubled his average to a CC-leading 18.9 points per game. Rubino scored in double figures in all but two games and had two 30-point efforts, including 35 in the Mules' CC first-round playoff win against Ursinus.

Rubino set a school record and ranks 19th in Division III with his .880 free-throw percentage. He also is fifth in the CC in field-goal percentage with a mark of .554, which ranks eighth in Division III among players who have attempted at least 350 shots. Rubino's season total of 510 points is third-best in program history, and his 194 field goals tied for the most by a Muhlenberg player in 54 years.

Gaines made the all-region team for the second team after earning second-team honors in 2020. The second Mule to make the All-CC team four times, he recently was selected to play in the Division III All-Star Game.

Gaines ranks fifth in the CC in points per game (16.2) and sixth in assists (81). He scored at least 20 points in a game 11 times during the season, including a 35-point effort at Franklin & Marshall. He finished his career in the top 10 on Muhlenberg's all-time lists in points (ninth with 1,459), assists (third with 362), three-pointers (fifth with 146) and steals (seventh with 123).

Gaines and Rubino are only the third pair of Mules in the last 50 years to each average at least 16.0 points per game in the same season.

The dynamic duo led Muhlenberg to one of its best seasons since the start of CC play. The Mules tied for third place in the CC with a 12-6 league mark, tying the school record for CC wins in a season, and finished 18-9 overall against the third-toughest schedule in the CC. After winning nine games last season, Muhlenberg tied the school record for biggest improvement, set 40 years ago when the 1982-83 squad turned around from 7-18 to 16-9.

The Mules were fourth in the final Region 5 rankings of the season – their highest regional ranking ever – and received consideration for an NCAA Tournament bid.