Menning becomes third Tiger to win GPAC POTW this season

MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team has a number of weapons on the offensive end, making the No. 3 Tigers a tough team to shut down on any given night. Last week it was senior forward Kris Menning (Corsica, S.D.) leading DWU to two conference wins.

For his effort last week, Menning has been named the Great Plains Athletic Conference Player of the Week, it was announced Tuesday. Menning is the third different Tiger player to win the award this season and fourth overall (Trae Bergh once, Jalen Voss twice).

Menning , the second leading scorer for the Tigers, has stepped up with leading scorer Jalen Voss (Worthington, Minn.) sidelined with an injury. In a game against Mount Marty College on the road last week he poured in a game-high 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. Menning added six rebounds, four assists and one block in the 86-65 win.

On Sunday, Menning was strong again, doing most of his damage from beyond the arc. The Tiger sharpshooter hit 5-of-8 shots from deep en route to a 21-point performance to give DWU its 20^th win of the season. He added 11 rebounds for a double-double along with three assists and one block. Menning was 8-of-13 overall from the field in the 97-63 win over Nebraska Wesleyan University to keep DWU at the top of the GPAC standings.

This season, Menning is averaging 18 points per game, along with 5.2 rebounds. He is shooting 50.4 percent from deep, which is on pace to break the DWU all-time record for a season, and is 88.5 percent from the free-throw line. He is fifth in the GPAC in scoring per game and fourth in field-goal percentage at 55 percent.

Menning and the rest of the Tigers (20-1, 10-1 GPAC) hit the road for the first of three away from the Corn Palace for a matchup with No. 16 Briar Cliff University (17-4, 9-2 GPAC) at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Sioux City, Iowa.