For Immediate Release
Sunday, March 3, 2024
NSIC Elite 18 Award
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. –
Jacob Beeninga of Minnesota State University Moorhead earned his third straight NSIC Elite 18 Award for men’s basketball. Beeninga was presented the award during the pregame of the NSIC/ Men's Basketball quarterfinal game on Sunday at the Sanford Pentagon.
As part of the NSIC 25th Anniversary celebration during the 2016-17 academic year, the NSIC Elite 18 Award was instituted to recognize the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the NSIC Championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The NSIC Elite 18 award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NSIC’s 18 Championships.
Beeninga, in his fifth season with MSUM, is a junior athletically and is majoring in accounting & finance and holds a 4.00 grade point average. He enjoyed another standout year for MSUM to land him on the All-NSIC First Team. The junior from Maple Grove, Minnesota, scored a team-best 17.1 points per game, which was the ninth-highest scoring average in the NSIC this season. Beeninga shot 35.4 percent from the field this regular season and collected his 1,000th career point on November 18 against Black Hills State. He scored a season-best 35 points against Northern Michigan on November 25 and featured seven games where he scored 20 or more points. Beeninga was also successful at the charity stripe, bolstering the fourth-best free throw percentage overall (84.8) in the NSIC.
About the NSIC
The NSIC is a 15-team, 18-sport, NCAA Division II conference with institutions located in Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The NSIC is a model Division II conference that uses high-level athletics competition to develop champions in the classroom and community while empowering student-athletes to be impactful and positive leaders. Formed in 1992 by the merger of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (men’s league) and the Northern Sun Conference (women’s league), the NSIC has flourished over the past quarter century, maturing into a union of Upper Midwest colleges and universities. The NSIC has won 25 team national championships and crowned 111 individual national champions. For additional information, visit
NorthernSun.org.
About NCAA Division II
The NCAA, the national governing body for college athletics, is a volunteer association of more than 1,000 colleges and universities that classify their athletics programs in one of three membership divisions. The 300+ institutions in NCAA Division II support a balanced approach in which student-athletes can earn scholarships based on their athletic ability, pursue their desired academic degree, and participate in all the campus and surrounding community have to offer. Division II student-athletes annually graduate at rates higher than their student body peers, and they have access to the best championships-participant ratio among the NCAA’s three divisions. Division II gives student-athletes the unique opportunity to compete in the classroom, on the field, in their career, for their causes, and on their terms. For additional information, visit NCAA.org.
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