Friday, March 2, 2007
Behrend men move on in ECAC Tournament
By Matt Waronker
assistant sports editor
The Penn State Behrend Mens Basketball
team defeated Grove City 76-46 in ECAC first
round play Wednesday night at the Junker
Center. The top seeded host Lions dominated
eighth seeded Grove City, manhandling the PAC
conference champion Wolverines at both ends of
the court. The victory, a 30 point rout, marks
both the Lions 20th overall win of the season as
well as their largest margin of victory thus far
this season.
Behrend's initial road back to Erie and into the
ECAC tournament, however, was bittersweet.
While home court advantage and the top seed of
the ECAC tournament is an impressive accom
plishment, the Lions were one basket away from
a trip to the NCAA tournament. That infamous
basket, a Tom Newman jumper as time expired,
fell short, sending Behrend hack to the ECAC
Behrend Athletes Receive Honors
Freshman point guard Justin Kovac was elected the
Newcomer of the Year by the AMCC.
Kevin Buczynski (junior) earned a spot on the AMCC
all-conference first-team.
Brittany Mays (senior) has been named to the AMCC
Women's Basketball first-team.
Julia Andrus (junior) was selected as a member on the
AMCC honorable mention team.
Senior swimmer Leah Haller was named AMCC
Swimmer of the Year and was also selected first team all
conference in two freestyle events.
Michele Quail (freshman) was named AMCC Diver of the
Year and selected to first team all-conference in two diving
events.
Freshman Colby Seibert was named AMCC Newcomer of the
Year and was selected to the first team all-conference teams in
the two butterfly events.
Sarah Breese (sophomore) made AMCC first-team
all-conference team in three events.
Freshman Tom Weir was awarded Newcomer of the Year
and was named all-conference in two events.
Junior Dustin Fairchild was recognized as Swimmer of the Year.
He qualified for all-conference in six events.
Freshman A.J. Kondash was recognized as Diver of the Year and
was named all-conference first-team in two events.
For full listings visit the AMCC website at http://www.amcconf.org
INTRAMURAL UPDATE
BASKETBALL
SWIMMING and DIVING
tournament for a second straight year. The loss,
a 59-58 heartbreaker against rival Lake Erie,
awarded the Storm not only the AMCC title, but
an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
In a match-up as even as they come, the Lions
held the lead against Lake Erie for the better part
of 39 minutes. However, a deep three-pointer
with 4.7 seconds remaining stole the lead for
Lake Erie, earning them the AMCC's bid for the
NCAA tournament. Both Behrend and Lake Erie
shot 39% from the floor for the game, however,
the Lions had trouble holding onto a 27-18 half
time lead, giving up 41 points in the second half.
Junior center, Kevin Buczynski led all scorers
with 21 points.
Despite the loss, the Lions were awarded the
top seed in the ECAC Southern tournament. The
Lions started off strong against Grove City in
their first round match-up, outscoring the
Wolverines 11-0 to start the game. While Grove
City pressured the Lions with an early run, the
Wolverines were no match for Behrend's
defense, as the Lions held Grove City to 37%
"Jr
0 PT
shooting from the floor for the game and forced
19 turnovers. After taking a commanding 38-24
halftime lead, the Lions continued to dominate
throughout the second half, keeping their lead in
double digits for the remainder of the game.
Head coach Dave Niland attributes much of
the team's success to their ability to get off to
such a quick start
"We made our shots early, - said Niland. "We
definitely had a nice intensity about us, and got
ourselves some nice runs."
Sophomore guard Drew Seker led all scorers
with 17 points while freshman guard Justin
Kovac and junior center Dan Zeigler each added
15 points in the winning effort. The Behrend
men shot and impressive 9 for 11 from beyond
the arc for the game.
The victory sends Behrend into the ECAC
semi-finals where they will face fourth seeded
Juniata College on Friday March 2nd. The
remainder of the tournament will he held at
DeSales University.
Lady Lions' season ends with loss to Moravian
By Matt Waronker
assistant sports editor
The Penn State Behrend Women's
Basketball team ended their 2006-2007
season with a rare home loss to Moravian
College Wednesday evening at the Junker
Center. The Lady Lions, who were
defeated by Moravian 72-56, tallied a
phenomenal regular season home record
of 13-1, making the home loss uncharac
teristic for the Behrend women. The first
round loss to the Greyhounds also elimi
nated Behrend from the ECAC tourna
ment and brought their overall record for
the season down to a mark of 21-6.
The Lady Lions began their short post
season run in the ECAC tournament after
a disappointing AMCC tournament
showing. After defeating sixth seeded
Pitt-Bradford 65-52, the Lady Lions fell
to top-seeded host Medaille College. The
Mavericks defeated Behrend by a con
vincing score of 66-39. After shooting a
dismal 4-of-30 from the floor in the first
Victoria Innes boxes out her opponent
half, the Behrend women found them
selves in a 20 point hole at the half.
"We just couldn't put the ball in the bas
ket," says head coach Roz Fornari. "We
didn't play sloppy, we just played tight."
In the second half, Behrend's perimeter
troubles continued, as the Lady Lions only
managed to improve their shooting to a
mere 24% from the field. Much of the
teams offensive troubles were the effect of
Medaille's constant defensive pressure.
"Their pressure gave us a poor shot
selection," said Fornari. "They became
more aggressive and we became less
aggressive. They took us out of character."
The Lady Lions shot a season low 19%
for the game. Behrend was led by senior
guard Brittany Mays who scored 16 points.
Mays also led the team with 11 rebounds.
Against seventh seeded Moravian in first
round ECAC tournament play, the second
seeded Lady Lions were able to take a 9-0
lead to start the game, however, the oppos
ing Greyhounds raced their way back into
competition, taking the lead late in the first
half and never looking back. Behrend was
able to pull within three at halftime, but
Track and fielders qualify for ECAC's
By Tommy Phillips
staff writer
The Behrend track and
field team picked up two
more ECAC qualifiers at
the Mount Union
Invitational this past week
end. The team also set three
new school records at the
meet.
Senior Jon McKinney
qualified for the ECAC
Championships with a jump
of 43'9" in the triple jump.
He finished in first place in
the meet at this event. He is
the only male ECAC quali
fier this year.
Two men's relay teams
put up great performances
at the meet. In the 4 x 160-
meter relay, freshman Doug
Stevenson, sophomore Phil
Stuczynski, freshman Vinny
Krawiec, and freshman
Mike Ferraro set a Behrend
record with a mark of
1:16.05. The mark was good
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Sophomore Newman gets the rebound.
after an early Moravian run to start the sec
ond half, Behrend fell further behind the
Greyhounds and were unable to match
Moravian's momentum. Leading the Lady
Lions offensively were Mays and sopho
more forward Victoria Innes who each had
13 points. Mays contributed a team high 10
rebounds. Also aiding offensively were
junior forward Meagan Bielanin and junior
guard Julia Andrus, who both contributed
11 points in the losing effort. Defensively,
the Lady Lions began to shut down in the
second half, allowing Moravian to shoot an
impressive 589 i from the floor. The
Greyhounds outscored Behrend 42-29 in
the second half. This year's tournament
marked Behrend's seventh appearance in
the ECAC tournament.
Despite the loss, the Lady Lions are opti
mistic towards next season. With only one
senior currently on the roster, the Behrend
women look to return four of five starters
as well as this season's large, talented
freshmen recruiting class.
for second place in the
event. In the 4 x 400-meter
relay, freshman Rob
Shrawder, freshman Kenji
Ikeo, sophomore Matt
Cherpak, and freshman
Jordan Telin finished in first
place in the meet with a
mark of 3:43.04.
For the women, freshman
Virginia Rogers-Ownes set
a Behrend record in the 55-
meter dash, finishing in sec
ond place in the event with
her mark of 7.53 seconds.
She qualified for the ECAC
Championships with her
performance. In the 1000-
meter run, Jenny Bailey fin
ished in second place with
her time of 3:12.42.
In the 400-meter dash,
sophomore Kim Chapman
set a Behrend record with
her mark of 62.03 seconds.
She also finished in second
place in the 300-meter dash.
She will be competing in
the 500-meter run at the
The Behrend Beacon I
ECAC Championships.
Coach Greg Cooper said
he was pleased with the
team's performance at the
event. "They've done very
well," he said. "The indoor
season is now over, besides
the ECAC Championships,
so they have a month to pre
pare for the outdoor season.
They have a lot of poten
tial." Cooper said his team
has certain goals for the
upcoming outdoor season.
"We'll be shooting to get as
many chances to the ECAC
Championships as possi
ble," he said. "We want to
perform well in the Mason-
Dixon meet."
Those who qualified for
the ECAC Championships
will compete this weekend
on Friday and Saturday. The
ECAC Championships will
be held at Wesleyan
University in Middletown,
Connecticut.