Lakeland College

Three Men's Basketball Players Earn NAC Honors

Athletics - posted on 2/27/2007

Three members of the Lakeland College men's basketball team were honored Monday as the 2006-07 All-Northern Athletics Conference Awards were announced.

Sophomore forward Matt Rogers (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle) and junior guard Kris Saiberlich (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) were named to the men's All-NAC team, while junior guard Aaron Regal (Suring/Suring) was an Honorable Mention selection.

Rogers, Saiberlich and Regal all played instrumental roles in helping the men's team reach the NAC Tournament semifinals, where No. 5 seed Lakeland (16-11, 12-6 NAC) led No. 1 seed Aurora (also ranked 15th in the nation) by as many as 16 points in the first half before falling, 72-86, to the eventual NAC Tournament champions.

Rogers, who was last season's Rookie of the Year in the former Lake Michigan Conference, led the team in scoring and was third in the NAC this season with 18.5 points per game on 53 percent shooting from the floor. He was also second on the team in rebounding with 5.4 rebounds per game.

"Matt just had an outstanding year," said head coach Kyle Brumett. "Not only did he put up the numbers, but he was also the guy the other teams were spending the most time preparing for. He was able to put up unbelievable numbers in spite of the fact that other teams' defensive game plans were probably centered on stopping him. That says even more about what he was able to do for us this year."

Saiberlich, who has previously received All-LMC and All-Rookie Team awards, finished second on the team in scoring with 12.3 points per game and shot 37 percent from 3-point range. He also led the NAC in 3-point field goals made per game with just under three per game.

"Kris' year started off a little shaky with some of the injuries he had," Brumett said. "He also had to deal with being the team's leading returning scorer and having other teams focus on him more than they had in the past. I thought he did a great job of adjusting and working hard and improving. He was playing his best basketball at the end of the year."

Regal added 10.9 points per game with a 45 percent average from beyond the arc, good for second-best in the NAC. He also racked up team-highs in assists with 112, earning him the No. 3 spot in the conference, and steals with 35.

"Aaron was as valuable to us as anybody else on the team, including Matt and Kris," Brumett said. "He led us in minutes and with having the ball in his hands as much as he did, he took on a new role on this team than he had in the past and had an outstanding year. In my opinion, he deserved the All-Conference label as much as anybody else.

"Kris and Aaron's roles on the team went way beyond their numbers. Those two guys were leaders on our team and also had the ball in their hands the majority of the time."

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