Ben Woodside named first team all-conference

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 7, 2008

ELMHURST, Ill.&8212; North Dakota State juniors Brett Winkelman and Ben Woodside were named to the All-Summit League men&8217;s basketball first team Thursday by a vote of the league&8217;s 10 head coaches, sports information directors and selected media.

Winkelman, a 6-foot-6 forward from Morris was the league&8217;s third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder averaging 18.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per league game.

He also ranked 10th in field-goal percentage (.511) and eighth in free-throw percentage (.837).

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Woodside, a 5-foot-11 guard from Albert Lea was the league&8217;s fourth-leading scorer and second-leading assist man averaging 18.3 points and 5.11 assists per league game.

He also ranked third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.70), fifth in steals per league game (1.56), and seventh in free-throw percentage (.841).

Woodside and Winkelman were two of the nation&8217;s top scorers in the regular season. Woodside&8217;s 599 points were the second most in school history and his 20.7 points-per-game scoring average over 29 games ranks 29th in the country.

He is also in the top 50 in assists per game.

Winkelman&8217;s 558 points ranked seventh in school history and his 19.2 scoring average over 29 games ranks 47th nationally. He and Woodside accounted for 52 percent of NDSU&8217;s scoring.

Both players went over 1,000 career points early in the season.

Woodside climbed all the way to sixth on the NDSU career scoring list with 1,549 points, and Winkelman reached 13th with 1,349 points.

IUPUI guard George Hill, Oral Roberts guard Robert Jarvis, Oakland forward Derick Nelson and Southern Utah forward Geoff Payne rounded out the first team.

Hill was voted Player of the Year, Payne was the Newcomer of the Year, and Jarvis was voted Sixth Man of the Year.

Oral Roberts forward Yemi Ogunoye was voted Defensive Player of the Year and ORU&8217;s Scott Sutton was named Coach of the Year after leading the Golden Eagles to a 21-8 record and the team&8217;s fourth straight regular-season championship with a 16-2 mark in league play.

North Dakota State was 16-13 overall and finished fourth in The Summit League with a 10-8 record.

The Bison will become eligible for the Summit League tournament and NCAA playoffs next season.