Danny Rudeen has been named to the 2013-14 All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Men’s Basketball First Team as selected by the league’s head coaches.

Danny Rudeen, a 6-3 senior guard from Sioux City, has been named to the 2013-14 All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Men’s Basketball First Team as selected by the league’s head coaches.

Rudeen was named to the All-GPAC First Team for the third year in a row, joining 2006 Morningside graduate Brad Schmit as the only three-time first-team All-GPAC men’s basketball performers in Morningside history. Rudeen, the second leading scorer in Morningside history with 1,955 career points, has moved within 32 points of Schmit’s school record 1,987 career points.

Rudeen is the leading scorer and second leading rebounder for a Morningside team that won the GPAC Post-Season Tournament Championship with an 87-85 victory against Dordt College to earn a berth in the upcoming NAIA Division II National Tournament slated for March 12-18 in Point Lookout, Mo. Rudeen is averaging 20.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. He has been the Mustangs’ leading scorer in 22 of their 33 contests, including five performances of 30 points or more. Rudeen scored a career-high 36 points in the Mustangs’ 108-106 overtime victory against Dakota Wesleyan University in the GPAC Post-Season Tournament Semifinals for the Mustangs’ top individual scoring performance of the campaign.

Aside from his scoring and rebounding exploits, Rudeen is second on the Mustangs with 104 assists for an average of 3.2 per game. He has made 205 of 406 field goal attempts for 50.5 percent and ranks among the NAIA Division II national leaders in 3-point and free throw shooting accuracy with a team-high 80 3-point field goals in 166 attempts for 48.2 percent and a school-record 188 free throws in 210 attempts for 89.5 percent. Rudeen, the Mustangs’ all-time leader with 425 career free throws, had a school-record streak of 38 consecutive made free throws end when he missed his first attempt in Tuesday’s GPAC Championship Game win against Dordt.

In addition to Rudeen, the Mustangs placed Tanner Miller and Kyle Nikkel on the All-GPAC Second Team.

Miller, a 6-1 junior guard from Gretna, Neb., is averaging 10.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He has 84 assists and a team-high 63 steals for norms of 2.5 assists and 1.9 steals per contest. Miller, who set a Morningside single-season record with 91 steals last season, has come up with at least one steal in 47 of his last 52 games dating back to last season. Miller has made 114 of 259 field goal attempts for 44.0 percent, 41 of 122 3-point field goal attempts for 33.6 percent, and 74 of 91 free throw attempts for 81.3 percent.

Nikkel, a 6-6 sophomore center from Pella, Iowa, is the Mustangs’ second leading scorer and top rebounder with averages of 13.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Aside from leading the team in rebounding, Nikkel also tops the team in field goal accuracy with 155 hoops in 249 attempts for 62.2 percent. Nikkel has shot 50 percent or higher from the field in 24 of his 31 games played. He is 93 of 121 for 76.9 percent from the free-throw line.

The Mustangs’ Steve O’Neill was named to the All-GPAC honorable mention list.

O’Neill, a 6-1 junior guard from Council Bluffs, Iowa, has dealt a team-high 143 assists for an average of 4.3 per game to compliment averages of 12.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest. He has made 124 of 298 field goal attempts for 41.6 percent, 54 of 138 3-point field goal attempts for 39.1 percent, and 101 of 122 free throw attempts for 82.8 percent.

Morningside will take a 10-game winning streak into the NAIA Division II National Tournament. The Mustangs have a 25-8 record and finished second in the GPAC regular season standings with a 16-4 league mark.