Dakota Bennington, Jordan Dehm Receive All-SLIAC Honors
WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. — Eureka seniors Dakota Bennington (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Christian) and Jordan Dehm (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) are ending their collegiate careers with All-St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors.
SLIAC commissioner Dick Kasier announced the All-SLIAC teams at Webster Groves on Thursday evening, naming Bennington to the First Team for the second straight year and Dehm to the Third Team for the first time.
Bennington, a 6-foot-3 guard, joins Shea Feehan, Michael Zasada and Mark Lessen as the only four Red Devils to be named First Team All-SLIAC in back-to-back seasons since EC joined the league in 2006. He was also a Third Team selection in 2018.
This season, Bennington was the SLIAC's leading scorer with 24.8 points per game while shooting 53.2 percent from the field. He scored the most total points (621), made the most field goals (235 of 440) and the most free throws (110 of 140) of anyone in the league and was fifth in the league in steals with 47.
His points per game (24.8), steals per game (1.9), blocks per game (1.1) and field-goal percentage (37.3) were all career-best marks, and he also contributed 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
Bennington also put himself in the EC record book in the single-season division. His scoring average (24.8) was the third-highest since 1978 and the highest of anyone save Feehan. With 621 points, he tallied just seven fewer than he did last season despite playing three fewer games, placing him fifth in points in a single season. He was also fifth in program history in field goals made with (235), seventh in field goals attempted (449) and ninth in free throws made (110).
A seven-time SLIAC Player of the Week honoree in his career, Bennington received the award for the final time after scoring 44 points in a senior-day victory over Greenville last weekend.
Dehm had a standout season for the Red Devils in his own right. After twice being sidelined for multiple games by injury, the 6-foot-6 senior got into a groove in the last two months of the season. He finished the year averaging 15.9 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game while shooting 50.2 percent from the field, 38.6 percent from 3-point range and 74.6 percent from the free-throw line.
He was fourth in the SLIAC in rebounds per games (8.6), and despite missing six games, he reached or tied career highs in total points (303), field goals (114 off 227), field-goal percentage (50.2 percent), free throws (53 of 71), assists (67) and blocks (23).
At one point during January, Dehm racked up 30 points in three of four games, including a career-high 34 at Fontbonne, 31 at Iowa Wesleyan and 31 against Webster. He was named SLIAC Player of the Week for the first time on Jan. 20.
Dehm, who scored 852 points in a team-high 88 games played, is now fifth in program history in blocked shots with 76 and 10th in rebounds with 629.
Four-year senior Ethan Zulz (Washburn, Ill./Lowpoint-Washburn) was Eureka's representative on the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team, which features one player from all 10 SLIAC teams.