page 12- The Behrend College Beacon - Thursday, March 25,1999
199: -99 ] IEHREND ] IASKET] .ALL WRAP-UP
Lions’ basketball teams bring Behrend two championships
ECAC Champion Lions
new school record for wins
in a season
by Matt Buscr
staff writer
The Behrend Lions men’s
basketball team enjoyed
unprecedented success during their
1998-99 campaign. They won the
Allegheny Mountain Collegiate
Conference (AMCC) regular season
title and won the school’s first-ever
Eastern College Athletic
Conference (ECAC)
Championship. Their2l wins seta
school record, and during the season
the men earned the school’s first
ever national ranking at #l7, while
being ranked as high as #2 in the
NCAA Division 111 East Region.
A late season skid prevented the
Lions from reaching their most
elusive goal - a bid to the NCAA
Division 111 National Championship
Tournament.
“We controlled our own destiny
in the last weeks of the season and
we just didn’t play well, and because
of the type of team we had, I think
it bothered us a bit,” head coach
Dave Niland commented.
The Lions stood at 18-3 heading
into the final regular season games
of the season, but were beaten by
Waynesburg, Allegheny, and
Laßoche twice to deny the team a
bid the big dance.
“We did have a chance to go to
the ECAC Tournament, which is
very competitive. You could take a
handful of the teams from that
tournament and they would go deep
into the NCAA’s,” Coach Niland
continued. “I fee 1 fortunate we were
able to redeem ourselves and win
our last three, and play the way we
did. We got back to playing the way
we were back in the middle of
January.”
The team finished with an overall
record of 21-7, and a conference
record of 8-2. The men had winning
streaks of two, three, four, five, and
seven during the season.
Four seniors who made immense
contributions to the Lions ended
their careers this season. Guards
Brock Bovaird, Jason Paloskey, and
Matt Plizga, and forward Brian
Emick arc graduating seniors.
Coach Niland spoke highly of his
departing seniors. “We won’t be
able to replace those guys. They
brought something special to our
team as far as guard play. And 1
don’t know if we’ll ever have
another guy like [Emick], Hc’s6’l"
and he’s got over 500 career
rebounds. He plays with heart and
he’s absolutely fearless. You just
don’t replace guys like that.”
Bovaird played for two seasons
at Behrend and left his mark. He
won AMCC Newcomer of the Year
last season and made the All-
Conference First Team. This
season, he was named AMCC
Player of the Year and repeated his
First Team All-Conference
selection. He leaves Behrend as the
school’s all-time leader in three
point percentage, at 45.6%. His 116
career three-pointers ranks him
fourth all-time. He ranks ninth in
career assists with 228, and stands
at second in free throw percentage
at 78.5% (143/182).
Paloskey finished his career with
consecutive AMCC All-Conference
Second Team selections. He
became the tenth player in school
history to amass 1,000 career points,
and he ranks seventh with 1,203
points. He made 159 career three
pointers, good for third all-time, and
his 458 career field goals are eighth
all-time. He ranks seventh all time
in three-point percentage at 39.5%
(159/402).
Plizga finishes his career at
Behrend having provided excellent
play off the bench for the Lions. He
appeared in 81 games and made
35% (18/52) of his career three
pointers. He saw playing time at
both guard positions and provided
steady play, leadership, and experience.
Emick finished his career as the
school’s ninth leading reboundcr, with
518 in his career. He also made 75
career three-pointers, good for seventh
all-time. He enjoyed the finest season
Top left: Emick finished his career ninth on all-time rebounding list. Bottom left: Bovaird was named AMCC Player of the Year his senior
season. Top right: Nestor’s all-around play sparked the Lady Lions. Bottom right: Phillips gives the Lady Lions a bright future.
of his career as a junior, when he
garnered Second Team All-Conference
status, as well as Third Team All-ECAC
South Region honors.
The Behrend Lions will return a
group of talented players next year to
follow up this years team’s success.
Center Chris Hughes, center Nate
Willson, forward Andy Lawrence, and
forward John Park are all juniors and
will be back next season. Sophomore
Chris May, freshman Andy Berchtold,
and freshman Andy Stritzinger should
all sec there roles increase next season.
Sophomore Ashley Orris, freshman
Lamar Jefferson, and freshman Matt
Kicth will anchor the backcourt next
season.
“I like the group we have coming
back.” Coach Niland said. “We’ll be a
different team next year, because we’ll
be playing different guys with different
strengths and weaknesses.”
“We’re also working hard to bring in
more quality players,” Niland
continued. “We won’t be able to find
someone to be an impact player right
set
away, because I think we have a lot of
talent here already.”
Coach Niland also commented on
this season’s fan support. “I thought
the support was great. I know our
players appreciated it, and our staff
appreciated it. Mr. (Brian) Streeter also
did a great job of generating interest
through the different promotions, and
he had a big hand in it.”
Coach Niland led his team to their
fifth consecutive winning season in his
five years of coaching, something never
accomplished at the school previously.
He earned his second consecutive
AMCC Coach of the Year award.
“It’s nice to be recognized, but that
award goes to my team, and it’s a staff
award. I never made a basket here or
did anything to win a game,” Niland
said.
Even though the team accomplished
many great things this year, Coach
Niland and the players are not about to
rest on their laurels, and look to use this
year’s success as a springboard to even
better things next season.
“I think we’re at the point where we
expect to do well, but you can only
expect to do well if you work hard in
the off-season. If we don’t do those
things we won’t be successful. I think
we have a group of guys coming back
that expect to do well, but they know it
only comes from hard work.”
Sports
Lady Lions capture first-ever
AMCC Championship
by Jason Snyder
sports editor
The Lady Lions basketball team Christmas break. Coach Fornari
completed a very successful 1998- sa *d> “I
99 season with their first-ever great experience for this group. They
Allegheny Mountain Collegiate grew up. That was just a really
Conference (AMCC) important part of our year for this
Championship. The Behrcnd B rou P- I think that helped bring them
women finished the season at 17-9 together. I think that helped with our
after a 6-6 start. They went 8-2 in
conference play which enabled them
to host the AMCC Tournament in
Erie Hall.
The Lady Lions fell short in their
bid to make the Eastern College
Athletic Conference (ECAC)
tournament. Head coach Rosalyn
Fomari said, “we ended our season
on a well enough note to make it. I
was assuming because of the losses
that we had during the season, that
we played ourselves out of it.”
The Behrend women entered the
season with hopes of avenging their
heartbreaking loss to the Pitt-
Bradford Panthers in the AMCC
Championship last season. With that
in mind, the AMCC Championship
weekend was made that much
sweeter as the Lions defeated the
Panthers in the championship game.
Fornari said of the championship
game, “it was nice to see our players
pull through at the end. All the
games we played, our players pulled
through.” She added, “the players
got a reward for their hard work.”
The season was also highlighted
with a trip to Las Vegas over
chemistry. Our chemistry was the best
part of our year. It just got them to
work together well. I think that won
us a championship.”
In this championship season, the
Lady Lions won seven straight to
move them well above .500 to propel
them to the top of the AMCC
standings. With a regular season win
over Pitt-Bradford, the Behrend
women clinched the regular season
AMCC title.
The Lions outscored their opponents
by an average of 63-55 on the year.
Behrend shot 42% from the field,
topping their opponents’ 37%. As a
team, the Lions shot 26% from three
point land and 68% from the free
throw line. Led by junior guard Carrie
Nestor, the Lions finished with 363
assists to rival their opponents’ 260, a
difference of four per game.
The Lady Lions prided themselves
on their visible concept of “team.” But
the Lions did have many strong
individual performers this season.
Nestor provided the Lions with all
around strong play through her hustle
and consistency. She finished the
season with 222 points (8.5 ppg), 131
rebounds (5 ipg), 144 assists (5.5 apg),
and 83 steals (3.2 spg).
Tiffany Buck broke the all-time
career three-point record this season
and made 35 on the year. She also
averaged 6.4 ppg and 1.2 spg. Lisa
Sanders also sparked the Lions’ guard
play. Fomari commented, “she is the
team leader in spirit.”
The Lions once again brought a
strong post game with starters Jen
O’Lare and Erin Phillips. O’Lare and
Phillips combined for 25.5 points per
game and 13 rebounds per contest.
Despite the strong individual play,
Fomari complimented her bench play
saying, “I have a ton of confidence in
my younger group.” She added, “I
would always look back on this team
and say it was our best ‘team’.”
Kate Costanzo, Jacqueline Jackson,
Katie Weigold, Christine Chamock
and Jessica McDivitt also contributed
strongly off the bench throughout the
season. Most memorably in the
AMCC championship, where they
enabled the starters to get much rest,
that directly contributed to the win.
Nestor, O’Lare and Phillips all
received Second Team All-Conference
recognition. Phillips was also named
Newcomer of the Year and Fomari was
named Co-coach of the Year. Fomari
commented, “the fact that I really
enjoyed coaching this year. I enjoyed
my team. It just made it that much
more special.”
Of the season, Fomari said, “we had
a good year as a group. I mean, there
were a lot of really good moments for
this team this year. A lot!”
The memories have a good chance
of growing next season as the Lady
Lions will have all of their
championship players able to return.
“They recognize that the people that
are returning next year will be skillful.
They have a lot of work to do. But we
have a good returning group,” said
Fomari.