Salem, Va. – March 22, 2010 – Freshman Dane Givner (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Harvest Preparatory), a member of the Heidelberg University men’s basketball team, has earned a spot on the 2010 DIII News All-Freshman Team.
Also representing the Ohio Athletic Conference was First-Team selection Kyle Meyer from Ohio Northern University, while Tyler Ledford from Wilmington College earned a spot on honorable mention.
This marks Givner’s third postseason award. He also picked up the OAC freshman of the year honor. He joined Bill Dufur and Jerry Buccilla as top award winners in the OAC. Dufur and Buccilla were named the Mike Gregory OAC Player of the Years, marking the most outstanding player in the conference, in 1990 and 1984, respectively.
In his inaugural campaign Givner was second on the team in scoring at 10.9 points a game, while dishing out 64 assists. He also hauled in 4.1 rebounds a game and pocketed 31 steals. For the year he reached double figures in 16 outings, including 11 of the last 14 games. He exploded for a season-best 28 points in the quarterfinal round of the OAC Tournament to help lead the Berg to a win over Ohio Northern University, marking the first win in Ada in 15 games.
Heidelberg, under the guidance of second-year head coach Anthony Gholson, finished the year at 15-13 overall and 9-9 in the OAC. The Berg made its 49th appearance in the OAC Tournament, including its fourth-straight. Along the tournament trail Heidelberg posted upsets over no. 4 Ohio Northern in the semifinals and unseated no. 1 John Carroll on its home court to make its seventh trip to the OAC Tournament Championship game.