Friday, March 16, 2018

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second time this week, a trio of GNAC men’s basketball players have been selected for top regional honors. This time the three have been selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) 2018 Division II All-West Region Team.

Western Oregon senior forward Tanner Omlid and Saint Martin’s junior guard Luke Chavez were both first team selections while Western Washington sophomore forward Daulton Hommes was named to the second team. In addition, Western Oregon head coach Jim Shaw was selected by his peers as the West Region Coach of the Year.

The 11-player squad is selected from schools from Division II’s three western conferences: the GNAC, the California Collegiate Athletic Association and the PacWest Conference.

Omlid adds the honor to a list this season, including GNAC and D2CCA West Region Player of the Year and selection to the NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team. Omlid led Western Oregon to a 31-2 overall record, the GNAC regular-season and tournament titles and an appearance in the NCAA Division II West Regional final. He averaged 13.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, ranked among the GNAC and NCAA Division II leaders in steals (2.7 per game) and also ranked third in the GNAC in blocks (1.8 per game) and ninth in assists (3.3 per game).

Chavez, selected by conference coaches as the GNAC Newcomer of the Year and to the All-GNAC First Team, led Saint Martin’s to just its second 20-plus win season as a Division II program and its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Chavez ended his season ranked sixth in the GNAC with 16 points per game, was third in steals (1.8 per game), fourth in assists (four per game) and seventh in both free throw percentage (.843) and three-pointers made (1.9 per game). Behind Chavez, the Saints finished the season at 25-8 overall. Chavez also joined Omlid on the NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team.

Hommes, a First Team All-GNAC selection, was the only underclassman named to the team after he led Western Washington a second-place GNAC regular-season finish and a 21-8 overall record. Hommes finished second in the GNAC in scoring at 18.1 points per game while also averaging six rebounds per game. Hommes led the GNAC and was among the Division II leaders in free throw percentage (.879) also finished the season ranked seventh in the GNAC in field goal percentage (.546). He also finished fifth in the league with a .446 three-point percentage.

Shaw has completed three seasons at Western Oregon. During that time, the WOU alumnus has collected two GNAC Coach of the Year awards and was selected by conference coaches for the honor in 2018. He led the Wolves to a 31-2 record, tying the GNAC single-season record for wins, and set a GNAC mark with 19 conference victories. The Wolves led the GNAC in scoring at 83.3 points per game and finished the year ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division II in total steals (322), fifth in scoring margin (+16.4), sixth in steals per game (9.8), ninth in total assists (575) and 10th in field goal percentage (.497).