Morningside placed three players on the All-GPAC Men’s Basketball First Team and Jim Sykes received the GPAC Coach of the Year award.

Alex Borchers, Tyler Borchers and Brody Egger were named to the 2017-18 All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Men’s Basketball First Team as selected by the league’s head coaches.

In addition to their three first-team all-conference selections, the Mustangs’ Jim Sykes was named the 2017-18 Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year.

Sykes, the winningest men’s basketball coach in Morningside history with a 303-157 career record for a school-record .659 winning percentage in 14 plus seasons at Morningside, guided the Mustangs to GPAC regular season and post-season tournament championships in the same season for the first time in school history. Morningside captured the GPAC’s regular season title with a 14-4 league record and defeated Northwestern College 80-76 in Tuesday’s GPAC Post-Season Tournament Championship Game. Morningside, ranked sixth nationally in the NAIA Division II, will take a 26-6 record into the NAIA II National Tournament slated for March 7-13 in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Sykes earned the GPAC Coach of the Year Award for the fourth time in his career. He was the GPAC Coach of the Year in 2008 and GPAC Co-Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2004.

Alex Borchers, a 5-10 sophomore guard from South Sioux City, Neb., is the Mustangs’ third leading scorer with an average of 12.7 points per game and the team leader with 117 assists and 41 steals for norms of 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals per contest. He has made 148 of 268 field goal attempts for 55.2 percent, 35 of 80 3-point field goal attempts for 43.8 percent and 64 of 81 free throw attempts for 79.0 percent.

Tyler Borchers, a 6-7 sophomore center from Le Mars, Iowa, is the Mustangs’ second leading scorer and top rebounder with averages of 15.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. He leads the team with 33 blocked shots for an average of 1.1 rejections per game and ranks among the NAIA Division II national leaders in field goal accuracy with 186 hoops in 273 attempts for a sizzling 68.1 percent. Borchers has converted 93 of 144 free throw attempts for 64.6 percent.

Borchers has a team-high nine double doubles, including a 24-point, 16-rebound performance in the Mustangs’ GPAC Tournament Championship Game victory against Northwestern.

Egger, a 6-2 junior guard from Urbandale, Iowa, is the Mustangs’ leading scorer with an average of 15.4 points per game to compliment an average of 3.6 rebounds per contest. Egger is the Mustangs’ top 3-point threat with a team-high 70 3-point field goals. He leads the Mustangs in 3-point field goal accuracy with 70 treys in 154 attempts for 45.5 percent. Egger has made 151 of 303 overall field goal attempts for 49.8 percent and is the Mustangs’ best free throw shooter with 106 free throws in 120 attempts for 88.3 percent.

Egger is the 17th leading scorer in Morningside history with 1210 career points.

Morningside’s Zach Imig and Matthew Hahn were named to the All-GPAC honorable mention list.

Imig, a 6-3 freshman guard from Gretna, Neb., is the Mustangs’ fourth leading scorer and second leading rebounder with averages of 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Imig is second on the team with 100 assists and 36 steals for averages of 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game and has made 144 of 275 field goal attempts for 52.4 percent.

Hahn, a 6-3 sophomore guard from Fremont, Neb., is averaging 7.4 points per game and is one of the Mustangs’ top 3-point threats with 56 3-point field goals in 129 attempts for 43.4 percent. Hahn has a 12.1-point scoring average over the last nine games since he was inserted into the Mustangs’ starting lineup.

Click here for the complete 2017-18 All-GPAC Men’s Basketball Team.