UMAC announces 2018-19 men's basketball postseason awards
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The 2018-19 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men's basketball season went back to what could be considered "normal" as the University of Northwestern resumed its spot atop the conference standings winning an its fifth regular season title in the last seven years and eighth postseason title in the last nine. Following another spectacular season, Eagles' head coach Tim Grosz was selected by his peers as the Coach of the Year while three players topped the all-conference list announced Tuesday.
In addition to the Eagles' three selections, runner-up Bethany Lutheran College also had three players named to one of the three squads including Cire Mayfield who was named the Freshman of the Year. Tim Wendel of Crown College took home the top honor as the UMAC Player of the Year.
Under Grosz' direction, the Eagles defeated the College of St. Scholastica Saturday in overtime to clinch an eighth trip to the NCAA tournament in the last nine years. The Eagles currently own a 21-6 overall record and have won 15-straight regular season games. They finished the conference season 15-1 with a 13-game conference winning streak after falling to Crown in the final game of the December portion of the UMAC season.
Grosz earns his ninth-career Coach of the Year nod from the UMAC coaches and has now won 15 UMAC regular season titles in his 19 years leading the Eagles. This year, his program led in conference play in scoring with 89.9 points per game (ppg), scoring margin (15.8 ppg), rebounds per game (rpg - 43.2), rebounding margin (8.8 rpg) and fewest turnovers per game (9.4).
As dominant as the Eagles were as a team, Wendel was just as dominant as an individual leading Crown to a second-straight UMAC tournament appearance. The Storm forward led almost every individual statistical category in conference play including scoring (23.9 ppg), rebounding (10.4 rpg), 3-point field goal percentage (45.1), free throw percentage (86.1), blocking (1.3 blocks per game - bpg). He also ranked in the top three in field goal percentage (53.4) and steals (1.8 steals per game - spg). He also ranked in the top three in the same categories for overall games.
This season, Wendel was three times selected as the UMAC Player of the Week and was named to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week after he dropped 40 points in the Storm's win over Northwestern in December. The junior posted 13 double-doubles including eight in conference regular season games. Five times he scored over 30 points in a single game and had 15 games with at least 20 points.
The Vikings put together another strong season, this year behind efforts of rookie Mayfield who was a First Team selection for all-conference. The first-year guard was a two-time UMAC Player of the Week selection and led all rookies in scoring (20.0 ppg) and was third in conference play among all scorers. He also led league play with 5.6 assists per game (apg) and had five games where he reached double digits in points and had at least eight assists including a points-assists double-double. Mayfield ranked in the top four in field goal and free throw percentages. His season high was 32 points against the University of Minnesota Morris and 12 times he tallied 20 points or more including six conference games.
Other notable all-conference performers include Brandon Newman of St. Scholastica who earned his third-consecutive First Team nod following his 2015-16 Freshman of the Year honor. Wendel is the only other player to have been named to one of the three teams at least three times and has been a First Team pick in back-to-back seasons. Seven players have been selected to one of the three teams twice in their careers including Collin Anderson (St. Scholastica), Noah Grove (Minnesota Morris), Caleb Hageman (Northwestern), Jared High (North Central University), Trenton Krueger (Bethany Lutheran), Ian Paulsen (Martin Luther College) and Tanner Youngberg (Northwestern).
Northwestern won the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
Player of the Year Award* – Tim Wendel, Jr., Crown
Freshman of the Year Award# – Cire Mayfield, Fy., Bethany Lutheran
Coach of the Year Award – Tim Grosz, Northwestern
First-Team UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Modesta Britten |
Jr. |
Northland |
Forward |
Sacramento, Calif./Yakima Valley CC |
| Cire Mayfield# |
Fy. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Guard |
St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park |
| Brandon Newman |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Guard |
Barnum, Minn./Barnum |
| Tim Wendel* |
Jr. |
Crown |
Forward |
Montevideo, Urugauy/Club Malvin |
| Tanner Youngberg |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Guard |
Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area |
Second-Team UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Collin Anderson |
Jr. |
St. Scholastica |
Guard |
Eagan, Minn./Eagan |
| Caleb Hageman |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Guard |
Charles City, Iowa/Charles City |
| Jared High |
Sr. |
North Central |
Guard |
Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo |
| Trenton Krueger |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Forward |
Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran |
| Montroy Scott |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Guard |
Fridley, Minn./Columbia Heights |
Honorable Mention UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Anderson Bazile, Jr. |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Guard |
Houston, Texas/San Antonio Regan |
| Micah Filer |
Fy. |
North Central |
Guard |
Sacramento, Calif./Capital City Christian |
| Noah Grove |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Forward |
Morris, Minn./Morris Area |
| Jarred Merchant |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Forward |
Kimball, Minn./Kimball Area |
| Keegan Oyugi |
Sr. |
Crown |
Guard |
Wichita, Kan./Yellowstone Christian |
| Ian Paulsen |
Jr. |
Martin Luther |
Forward |
Ixonia, Wis./Luther Prep |
| Mac Reykdal |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Guard |
Washburn, Wis./Washburn |
UMAC All-Defensive Team
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Trenton Krueger |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Forward |
Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran |
| Jared Milinkovich |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Guard |
New Prague, Minn./New Prague |
| Brandon Newman |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Guard |
Barnum, Minn./Barnum |
| Tim Wendel |
Jr. |
Crown |
Forward |
Montevideo, Urugauy/Club Malvin |
| Tanner Youngberg |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Guard |
Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area |
UMAC Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award – Northwestern
Bethany Lutheran – Don Henderson, Sr., Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside
Crown – Logan Strand, Sr., Wahpeton, N.D./Wahpeton
Martin Luther – Richard Eckmann, Jr., Trimont, Minn./Martin County West
Minnesota Morris – Trent Jerome, Jr., Lancaster, Minn./Lancaster
North Central – Sam Peterson, So., Lakeville, Minn./Bethlehem Academy
Northland – Brandon Galland, Sr., Bellevue, Wash./Interlake
Northwestern – Brady Bellefeuille, Sr., Frazee, Minn./Frazee
St. Scholastica – Josh Klun, So., Duluth, Minn./Lakeview Christian Academy
Wisconsin-Superior – Montroy Scott, Sr., Fridley, Minn./Columbia Heights