Men's Basketball's Temple, Reed named NCCAA DII All-Americans

JOPLIN, Mo. - Great Lakes Christian College men's basketball saw two of its players, Trent Temple and Isiah Reed, given NCCAA DII national honors on Wednesday.

Temple, a senior, was awarded the program's first-ever NCCAA DII national player of the year award and was named unanimously to his second All-American first-team. Temple averaged 13.3 points per game on 55.3% shooting, good for second on the team in both categories. He also averaged 4.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists.

Reed, also a senior, was named to his fourth NCCAA DII All-American team, garnering a second-team nod. He scored 11.2 points per game and was the team's best three-pointer shooter (46.7%). He also added 3.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

"I am so proud of Trent and Isiah," head coach Richard Westerlund said. "They chose to come back and have sacrificed much this year but they're huge reason for our success. They are two extremely gifted players that are very deserving of this recognition. Trent Temple has set the bar so high for our program with being the first national player of the year in school history. Couldn't be more proud of him and just how hard he's worked to get here. Zay is in a class of his own. He's a four-time all American. He's going down as our best player all-time, he's been with this program from the beginning. Everything he's gotten he's earned."

He continued, "these guys both would tell everyone the only reason they're in this position is because they have great teammates, and when you win you get rewarded. Obviously individual accolades are great, but I know these guys both care about completing the mission they've set out to do, which is win the last game of the year. I am very fortunate to have opportunity to coach these guys."

Great Lakes will face Emmaus Bible College in the NCCAA DII national championship quarterfinals on Thursday.