Lakeland College

Schwarz named NAC Player of the Year; Ward, Oshkeshequoam, Hagenow also honored

Athletics - posted on 2/26/2013

WAUKESHA, Wis. - Lakeland College senior Jake Schwarz (Sheboygan, Wis.) was named the Northern Athletics Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year, one of four Muskies honored as the NAC released its 2012-13 season all-conference awards on Tuesday.

Schwarz was joined by teammate Justin Ward (Jr.-Wisconsin Dells, Wis.) on the first team, while James Oshkeshequoam (Jr.-Keshena, Wis.) was named honorable mention all-conference. Freshman Brandon Hagenow (Sussex, Wis.) also was honored, as he was named to the conference's All-Freshman Team.

Schwarz received the conference's top honor for the first time in his distinguished four-year career. This year, the 6-5 forward averaged 22.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, shooting 48.0% from the field, 39.2% from three-point range and 75.7% from the free throw stripe. He led the NAC in scoring, was second in the conference in rebounding and three-point field goals per game (2.6), and also finished in the top 15 in the conference in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free throw percentage and steals per game (1.4).

Schwarz concludes a decorated career as a three-time First Team All-NAC selection. He is the all-time leading scorer in Lakeland and NAC history with 2,199 points, and also is the conference's all-time leader in rebounds (936), field goals made (787) and free throws made (447). He also finishes his career fifth in Lakeland history in rebounding.

Ward teamed with Schwarz to produce the top 1-2 punch in the NAC this season, averaging 16.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. A 6-9 forward, he finished second in the conference in blocks, fourth in scoring and fifth in rebounding. Ward surpassed the 1,000-point total this season and is currently 26th in Lakeland history with 1,133 career points. He also did some of his best work in February, averaging 18.0 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game as the Muskies clinched the NAC North Division title and advanced to the conference tournament championship game.

Oshkeshequoam missed ten games this season due to injury but came back for the heart of the conference season. The smooth 6-4 guard averaged 12.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, shooting 46.9% from the floor as well as 48.3% from three-point range and 87.8% from the foul line. He led the NAC in three-point shooting and ranked second in the conference in free throw percentage.

Hagenow started all 28 games for Lakeland as a freshman and was a valuable floor leader who improved as the season went on. The 5-10 guard averaged 6.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game and shot 48.4% from the field. He took over the point guard duties after Brandon Ware (Jr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) was sidelined with a career-ending heart condition one game into the season and averaged better than a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, which ranked second in the NAC.

The Muskies finished the season with a 22-6 record, losing in the NAC Tournament final to Aurora (Ill.) University. The 22 wins are the most since the school joined NCAA Division III in 1997 and the most in school history since winning 25 games in 1993-94.