Tuesday, March 1, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – He was the unanimous selection for the conference’s Preseason Player of Year. And by the end of the regular season, coaches’ opinion of Western Oregon forward Andy Avgi hasn’t changed.

The senior was a unanimous selection to the 2015-16 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Team and ran away in the voting to earn his second straight Player of the Year award. Avgi earned 10 of 11 possible first place votes in both all-conference voting and Player of the year voting (coaches may not vote for players from their own teams).

Avgi leads four Western Oregon selections to the All-GNAC Team, including second teamers Julian Nichols and Tanner Omlid and honorable mention Jordan Wiley. The four are joined by first year head coach Jim Shaw, who was selected by his peers as the GNAC Coach of the Year. Avgi was joined on the first team by four other unanimous selections: Sekou Wiggs of Alaska Anchorage, Travante Williams of Alaska, Mitch Penner of Seattle Pacific and Joseph Stroud of Central Washington. Also earning first team selection was Western Washington’s Jeffrey Parker.

Avgi was elected to the All-GNAC for the fourth consecutive season, earning first team selection last year and honorable mention as a freshman and sophomore. Stroud and Parker moved up from second team selections last year while Penner jumps up from an honorable mention in 2015.

Named the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year as well as a preseason All-American by both the NABC and the D2 Basketball Bulletin, Avgi has lived up to expectations. The Woodburn, Ore., native leads the Wolves and is second in the GNAC in scoring, averaging 20.6 points per game, and ranks sixth in the league in field goal percentage (.537). His output includes three games of 30 or more points allowed Western Oregon to finish the regular season at 25-3 overall and 18-2 in the GNAC, earning the Wolves the No. 1 seed and a first round bye in this week’s GNAC Championships.

The athletic Wiggs, a transfer from the University of Idaho, was selected as the conference’s Newcomer of the Year after leading Alaska Anchorage to a 21-10 overall record, a 14-6 GNAC mark and the No. 3 seed in the GNAC Championships. Known for his ability to create, Wiggs leads the GNAC in scoring at 24.2 points per game and is third in the league with 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. Adept at getting to the free throw line, Wiggs enters the week ranked second in Division II with his 305 free throws attempted and third with 234 made. Like Avgi, Wiggs also has six games of 30 or more points on his ledger.

In addition to his first team selection, Stroud was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Stroud leads Central Washington in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and is second in the league in field goal accuracy at 61.5 percent. His defensive laurels were sealed in the swat department as Stroud leads the league and is 11th in Division II with his 67 blocked shots and 2.7 blocks per game.

Williams, a senior transfer from Adams State College in Colorado, led the Nanooks to second place in the GNAC standings and the No. 2 seed in the GNAC Championships. Another two-way threat, Williams is third in the GNAC in scoring, averaging 18.4 points per game, and is second in rebounding at 7.6 rebounds per game. Another top defensive threat, Williams is tied with Omlid for the league lead and is eighth in Division II at 2.4 steals per game.

Penner paced Seattle Pacific to the No. 4 seed in this week’s GNAC Championships as the Falcons aim for their fourth straight tournament championship. The senior leads the Falcons and is fourth in the GNAC in scoring, averaging 18 points per game. His season ledger includes a pair of 30-point games, topped by a 37-point performance against Concordia on Feb. 4. Penner was named the GNAC Player of the Week three times this season, the most of any player this season.

Parker led Western Washington in scoring and is one of the top three-point threats in the league as he led the Vikings to the No. 6 seed in the GNAC Championships. Parker is fifth in the GNAC in scoring, averaging 17.7 points per game, and leads the league in both three-pointers made (72) and three-pointers made per game (2.5). Parker has the highest scoring game in the GNAC to date, having scored 39 points against Alaska on Jan. 7.

Montana State Billings’ Preston Beverly joins the special award winners as the Freshman of the Year. A honorable mention all-conference selection, Beverly leads the Yellowjackets and is tied fifth in the GNAC in rebounding with an average of 6.9 rebounds per game. Beverly ranks third in balanced scoring attack for the Yellowjackets, averaging 13 points per game.

Western Oregon and Alaska Anchorage both had four selections to lead the team. Seattle Pacific and Western Washington each had three selections.

2015-16 GNAC MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Player Of The Year: Andy Avgi, Western Oregon
Coach Of The Year: Jim Shaw, Western Oregon
Defensive Player Of The Year: Joseph Stroud, Central Washington
Freshman Of The Year: Preston Beverly, Montana State Billings
Newcomer Of The Year: Sekou "Suki" Wiggs, Alaska Anchorage