Champion Saints lead 2021 UMAC men's basketball awards with two top honors

Champion Saints lead 2021 UMAC men's basketball awards with two top honors

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ST. PAUL, Minn.---The College of St. Scholastica wrapped up an impressive and unusual 2021 men's basketball season with its first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) regular season championship season since 2015-16 and are now being rewarded with two of the top three postseason honors. 

Head Coach David Staniger was selected the Coach of the Year by his peers for leading the Saints to a 7-0 conference record while Nick Carlson was named the UMAC Player of the Year. North Central University first-year Cameron Thomas earned the conference Rookie of the Year honor for his role in a third-place finish for the Rams. 

In their final season in the UMAC, the Saints were unstoppable under Staniger's leadership. The Saints dominated multiple statistical categories including scoring offense (83.4 points per game/ppg), scoring defense (67.0 ppg), scoring margin (16.4 ppg), field goal offense (49.5 percent) and field goal defense (41.4 percent). The season was highlighted by an impressive 81-73 win over rival University of Northwestern early in the regular season which set the tone for Staniger's squad to win the title. The Saints finished 10-1 overall after falling in the conference tournament championship to Northwestern. 

Carlson led a very balanced Saint squad but helped fuel the team's success. The junior guard ranked sixth in the conference in scoring with 16.9 ppg and was second in field goal percentage (56.6). He also ranked in the top 20 for assists per game (2.7), steals per game (1.1) and rebounds per game (5.1). 

In four UMAC games this season, Carlson scored over 20 points including a 26-point performance on 10-of-13 shooting in the win over the Eagles. He also shot over 60 percent from the field in three of those four games. He finished the regular season as the UMAC Player of the Week after scoring 20 second-half points to lead the Saints to a comeback 83-80 win over Bethany Lutheran College to clinch the regular season title. 

North Central put together a solid turnaround season finishing with a 5-3 conference record. Part of that success was due largely to the play of rookie Thomas. The first-year forward ranked first in rebounding (9.4 rpg) and third in blocks per game (2.3). He also averaged 14.0 ppg which was 11th among all players and first among all rookies. He also was seventh in shooting percentage from the field (50.0). In eight games, Thomas scored in double figures seven times and eclipsed 20 points twice. His season was highlighted by a 29-point, 22-rebound performance against the University of Wisconsin-Superior to earn him Player of the Week. 

The UMAC all-conference list was full of new names this season, but there were six players who were selected to one of the three all-conference teams for the second time in their careers including Mason Ackley (Wisconsin-Superior), Noah Alm (Northwestern), Carlson, Jared Milinkovich (Bethany Lutheran), Jack Silgen (St. Scholastica) and Brian Smith (Bethany Lutheran). 

Martin Luther 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* – Nick Carlson, Jr., St. Scholastica
Rookie of the Year Award# – Cameron Thomas, Fy., North Central
Coach of the Year Award – David Staniger, St. Scholastica

First-Team UMAC All-Conference
Name Year School Position Hometown/High School
Noah Alm Sr. Northwestern Guard Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake
Nick Carlson* Jr. St. Scholastica Guard Canyon, Minn./South Ridge
Kyle Kaemingk Jr. Northwestern Forward Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy
Jack Silgen Jr. St. Scholastica Forward Deerwood, Minn./Crosby-Ironton
Brian Smith Sr. Bethany Lutheran Guard Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park

Second-Team UMAC All-Conference
Name Year School Position Hometown/High School
Mason Ackley So. Wisconsin-Superior Guard Superior, Wis./Superior
Seth Fuqua So. North Central Guard Colorado Springs, Colo./The Vanguard School
Seth Royston Jr. Crown Forward Leroy, Minn.
Cameron Thomas# Fy. North Central Forward Aurora, Colo./Grandview
Eli Vogel So. Wisconsin-Superior Guard Appleton, Wis./Appleton West

Honorable Mention UMAC All-Conference
Name Year School Position Hometown/High School
Jordan Brennan So. Northland Guard Ashland, Wis./Ashland
Quinn Fischer Jr. St. Scholastica Guard Esko, Minn./Esko
Dillon Haider Jr. Minnesota Morris Guard Melrose, Minn./Melrose
Jaret Johnson So. Minnesota Morris Forward Morris, Minn./Morris
Jared Milinkovich Sr. Bethany Lutheran Guard New Prague, Minn./New Prague
Christian Moore Sr. Crown Guard San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic
Hunter Nielsen So. Bethany Lutheran Forward New Prague, Minn./New Prague

UMAC All-Defensive Team
Name Year School Position Hometown/High School
Isiah Hendrickson So. St. Scholastica Guard Duluth, Minn./Duluth East
Kyle Kaemingk Jr. Northwestern Forward Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy
Jared Milinkovich Sr. Bethany Lutheran Guard New Prague, Minn./New Prague
Seth Royston Jr. Crown Forward Leroy, Minn.
J'Vaun Walker Fy. Wisconsin-Superior Guard Rosharon, Texas/Manvel

UMAC Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award – Martin Luther
Bethany Lutheran – Cooper Hansen, So., Tyler, Minn./Russell-Tyler-Ruthton
Crown – Micah Moan, Sr., Corcoran, Minn./Homeschool
Martin Luther – Joey Behm, Sr., Jackson, Wis./Kettle Morraine Lutheran
Minnesota Morris – Blake Martinz, Sr., Custer, S.D./Custer
North Central – Barnabas Preble, So., Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy
Northland – Ryley Hanson, Sr., Cameron, Wis.
Northwestern – Owen Boerema, So., Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield
St. Scholastica – Dawson Miller, Fy., Paynesville, Minn./Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City
Wisconsin-Superior – Carter Brown, So., Eau Claire, Wis./Regis Catholic