Monday, March 13, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – Three of the GNAC’s top-five players are being recognized as among the top in the west with their selections to the D2CCA Men’s Basketball All-West Region Team.

Western Washington senior guard Taylor Stafford and Alaska Anchorage senior guard Suki Wiggs were named to the D2CAA All-West Region First Team while Western Oregon junior forward Tanner Omlid was a second team selection. All three players were First Team All-GNAC selections.

Joining Stafford and Wiggs on the West Region First Team were Cal Baptist guard Michael Smith, who was named the region’s Player of the Year, UC San Diego guard Adam Klie and Hawaii Pacific guard Chauncey Orr. The five are now eligible for selection to the D2CCA All-America Team, which will be announced prior to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight on Mar. 20.

Stafford, a senior transfer from the University of Evansville who was named both the GNAC Player and Newcomer of the Year, piloted the Vikings to the GNAC regular season and tournament titles, ranking third in the GNAC and 15th in Division II with an average of 22.7 points per game. He scored double digits in all but one of the Vikings’ 31 games this season, which included a 44-point performance at UC San Diego on Dec. 12.

Wiggs led the GNAC in scoring for the second straight year, averaging 24.4 points per game to rank No. 5 in the NCAA. A year after breaking the GNAC single-season scoring record with 770 points in 2015-16, Wiggs finished his career with 1,477 points in just two seasons with the Seawolves. He and Cal Baptist’s Smith are the only two repeat first-team all-region selections on this year’s squad.

Omlid was the only returning start from Western Oregon’s 2016 Final Four squad and led the Wolves back to the GNAC Championships final, where they lost to Western Washington. The GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, Omlid was the only GNAC player to rank in the top-12 in all five major statistical categories as he averaged 15.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 3.1 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. Omlid set a GNAC record with 11 steals against Seattle Pacific on Feb. 4.