Voss named NAIA, GPAC player of the week

MITCHELL, S.D. – Big games are nothing new for Dakota Wesleyan University junior Jalen Voss.

Voss, a 6-foot-7 forward for the Tiger men's basketball team, averages more than 20 points and seven rebounds per game for the DWU men, who are 16-13 overall and 9-10 and in fifth in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.

But Voss went above and beyond his already high averages this past week, and Tuesday he was recognized not only at the conference level, but also at the national for his big week.

Voss, who averaged 33.5 points and 15.5 rebounds in a pair of DWU wins last week – including a road win against No. 13 Hastings College – was named the GPAC Player-of-the-Week and the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Player-of-the-Week, it was announced Tuesday afternoon.

This is the second weekly GPAC honor of the year for Voss, who was also honored Jan. 27, and the first national weekly honor for the Worthington, Minn., native. It also marks the first time a Tiger men's basketball player has earned the national weekly honor since Brock Seim was named the NAIA Men's Basketball Player-of-the-Week on Jan. 25, 2006.

Voss started his big week with a game-high 33 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots in a 102-85 win over Northwestern College at the Corn Palace. The win avenged an overtime loss to the Red Raiders earlier this season, and also marked the first time the Tiger men and women have swept Northwestern since Feb. 11, 2009. Voss had eight offensive rebounds and went 13-for-21 from the field.

He followed that performance with a career-high 34 points to help DWU upset the 13^th-ranked Broncos 86-72 Saturday afternoon in Hastings, Neb. Voss, who went 13-for-19 from the field, also had a career-high 18 rebounds, including nine offensive boards.

Voss is currently second in the GPAC in scoring per game (20.8) and 21^st in the NAIA. He is also 14^thin the nation in total scoring (584) and second in the conference in rebounds per game (7.3). Voss is second in the GPAC with eight double-doubles and third in the league with 35 total blocked shots.

Voss and the Tigers wrap up the regular season Wednesday, Feb. 19, when they travel to Yankton, S.D., to take on Mount Marty College at 8 p.m. Dakota Wesleyan is fifth in the league with a 9-10 record and is ahead of Nebraska Wesleyan University and Briar Cliff University, who both have 8-10 GPAC marks.