MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team recently completed another successful season and a pair of Tigers picked up postseason honors after standout seasons.
Senior guard Trae Bergh was named to the NAIA All-American First Team for the first time, while junior guard Tate Martin was named an honorable mention, making the list for the first time in his career, it was announced by the NAIA on Thursday.
Bergh was the leader for DWU in 2015-16, battling through numerous injuries this season to score a career-high 22.2 points per game, including 35 points per game in the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship last week. Bergh set two DWU records in his final campaign, making a Tiger-best 12 shots from 3-point range in a game at Nebraska Wesleyan University early in the season, while setting a new benchmark for 3-pointers made in a career by a men's basketball player at DWU with 329.
The Crooks, S.D., native made 46.9 percent of his field goals and 40.3 of his 3-pointers. He finished his career with 1,847 career points, landing in seventh place on the DWU all-time list. Despite playing in just two games at the national championship, Bergh was named to the All-Tournament Team for a second time in his career.
Martin returned to the starting lineup in 2015-16 after coming off the bench as a sophomore. The point guard facilitated the potent DWU offense all season, leading the NAIA in assists per game with 6.61. Martin stepped up to give DWU another scoring threat this season, averaging 14.8 points per game, while making 49.4 percent of his shots from the field and 43 percent from deep.
With 11 combined assists in two games at the national tournament, Martin tied the DWU single season record held by Lynn Frederick for the most assists in a single season in Tiger men's history at 227.
The Tigers also received the Dr. James Naismith/Emil Liston Team Sportsmanship Award following the championship game of the NAIA tournament.