LONG BEACH, Calif. --  Erik Howlin has been remarkable for Vanguard men's basketball this season, and as he and the team gear up for the program's first Pacific West Conference Tournament game, Howlin learned he is a First Team All-Conference selection.  Howlin becomes the second All-PacWest selection in men's basketball history and the initial First Team selection, while he also snares his first All-Conference nod in his career.
 
Howlin has never scored under 10 points in a game this year, with his 10 at San Francisco State and Seattle Pacific being his two lowest outputs of the season.  Across the remaining 26 contests, Howlin scored over 20 points 14 times and ripped off 33 at home against CUI to set a career-best for a single game.  With numbers like that, it is of little surprise that Howlin led VU with 19 points per game and 532 points, almost double the output of Bryson Metz (291).  In addition, he paced the PacWest with his 19 PPG and has the most points scored, clearing Hawaii Hilo's Julio Montes II by 43, and his 33 points were the fourth-most in a single game this season in the league.  His most recent heoric moment was the game-tying shot with 26 seconds left against Jessup.  Howlin shot 52.1% from the floor and went 35-for-96 from downtown for a 36.5% rate.  His field goal percentage landed him fourth in the conference, while he had the third-most attempts and second-most conversions.  While his 75.3% shooting rate from the free-throw line was 17th in the PacWest, he has attempted the most free throws in the conference (166) and made the second-most (125). 

Howlin's 16 attempts from the charity stripe against CUI at home were the third-most in a single game this year in the conference, and no one else on VU cleared 100 attempts during the regular season.  Howlin did not dither in other facets of the game, as he finished second on Vanguard with 132 rebounds and 93 defensive boards, while his 4.7 rebounds per game placed him 25th in the conference.  Howlin had 35 steals (third on VU), five blocks, and registered 59 assists (second), as his 2.1 assists per game had him tied for 21st in the league.  Howlin can beat you in many different areas of the game, and his drive to the rim has been almost unstoppable in 2025-26.  While he l
 
He was honored as the PacWest Player of the Week on February 17, the first VU men's player to be handed that laurel.  The graduate student will be honored before the game against Hawaii Pacific, which tips off at 2:45 p.m. at Point Loma.