ANGOLA, Ind. – Senior guard Cortez Garland of the Trine University men's basketball team has been named Second Team All-Region by D3hoops.com ahead of Thursday's National Championship Semifinal game against Trinity College out of Connecticut.
The Detroit, Michigan native was also named First Team All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) after a regular season that saw Garland lead the Thunder in scoring en route to becoming regular season champions in the conference. He averages 16.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game on 45.0% from the field.
As an individual, Garland was inside the top ten in scoring for Region VII and was ranked sixth in steals. Trine led the region as a team in steals per game with 12.1 on average. The Thunder forced a region-high 18.2 turnovers on the defensive side of the ball, resulting in the region's best turnover margin at +5.4. The team had the second-best scoring margin (+11.5) with the eighth-highest scoring offense (80.1 PPG) and the third-highest field goal percentage (48.4%).
Garland was the man who converted the game-winning field goal for Trine in their 88-86 overtime victory against the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in the Sectional Finals to continue in the NCAA Tournament. In his four NCAA tournament games, Garland is averaging 21.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
The season-high in scoring came early in the year when the Thunder bested the Baldwin Wallace University Yellow Jackets, 76-70. Garland netted 26 points in the victory and had 20 or more points in ten games in the 2023-24 season.
The Trine Thunder are in action on Thursday, March 14 in the National Championship Semifinals inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in fort Wayne, Indiana. Tip-off against the Trinity Bantams is slated for 8 p.m.