KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Westminster College men's basketball team had eight players named a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete, the national office announced today. This marks the third consecutive year that Westminster has led the NAIA in scholar athletes.

This year's recipients include Chris Cassity, Tanner Gregory and Ben Walker who all make the list for the third time in their careers. Jordan Bjornberg, Alex Drecksel, Jake Orchard, Marcus Parry and Josh Schouman were each named a scholar athlete for the first time this season.

Westminster has now had 52 student-athletes named a scholar athlete by the NAIA in the program's 13 year history. The eight that made the list this season rank as the most that Westminster has ever had, surpassing the six Griffins named a scholar athlete in 2010.

In order to be nominated by an institution's head coach, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status to qualify for this honor.