sports The crowds are hushed as the dribbling stops by Sean Weaver Collegian Staff Writer The roaring crowds hush as echos of continuous 'drib bling basketballs stop. The controversial and seemingly biased 'zebra shirts' hang up their whistles, and coaches plan for a new and better season. This is the aura for thousands of NCAA men's basketball teams across the U:S., including the Penn State University Behrend Cubs. The Cubs finished out the season with a 11 and 14 mark; a notable improvement from last years' record of 6-19. Doug Zimmerman, coach of the men's team, ex pressed mixed feelings about the team's progress: "We looked forward to a good, winning season, but due to certain (uncontrollable) circumstances, we did not do as well as we expected." In the first semester of play, the Cubs maintained a record of 3-3. Going into the second semester of their season, however, four team members could not or for other occurences did not return to play. One of these four was Jim Webb who suffered a stress fracture to his knee. "Due to (these) players' absences, we could not pick up where we left off," says coach Zimmerman, "we had a difficult time because we had to 'regroup' and make adjustments." Although fortune was not on the side of the Cubs as a team, indvidual status ranked high. A bid for the title of All American had been sent to be voted on in the name of Randy Gorniak. Gorniak, a senior at Behrend, is the "team's leading scorer with an average - of 21.2 points per game and is the team's leading rebounder with 16.4 per game. This ranks number one in thecountry in Division 111 play. Coach Zimmerman is concerned with the bid and said that Randy has a good chance, but it would not be easy. All American Team bids are first sent to a district level to be voted on by all coaches involved in the bidding. Gorniak is the only Division 111 candidate west of Harrisburg. This process of voting may put odds against Gorniak's bid, however his rebounding status Behrend's best in centercourt Behrend's Best highlights women's basketball Assistant Coach Mike Alexa and men's basketball Assistant Coach Jim Hamilton for their hard Men's basketball assistant coach Jim Hamilton. by Sue H olmes Collegian Sports Editor proved to keep his vote rolling as he was voted to the first team on the district level. Now the bid is sent to the regional level to be voted on, then sent to the national level, the final stage in the election of the All American Basketball Team. Gorniak is also concerned but does not give it much thought. "I don't think about it a lot, but I do have positive feelings about the outcome." says Gorniak. Coach Zimmerman looks forward to a new season of experienced and new players, "I anticipate a 'deeper blend' in the players." says Zimmerman. With good recruiting the men's coach hopes to spread the strength of the team. This move, Zimmerman commented, may be difficult without a scholarship program at Behrend. However, Zimmerman feels the depth of the team ex perience by recruitment will not suffer. Improvement seems to be on the horizon for the Cubs as they close out their 86-87 season. And next fall, when the roar of the crowd rises, the dribbling of basketballs seems endless, and the 'zebra shirts' retrieve their whistles, the Behrend men's basketball team will be ready for another year of good hoops. Final inividual stats Player Points (Av) Rebounds Assists Steals Moller 156 ( 7.4) 24 26 9 Sawin 18 ( 1.2) 8 4 3 Snyder 177 ( 7.4) 43 108 22 Weed 100 ( 4.3) 42 105 30 Webb * 7 ( 3.5) 1 4 1 G. Gorniak 266 (11.6) 162 60 40 Sargent 84 ( 4.0) 54 8 6 Elchynski 7 ( 1.0) 2 0 0 R. Gorniak 510 (21.2) 393 60 43 Phillips 16 ( 0.9) 12 1 3 Zang 287 (12.5) 155 76 46 Beaver 5 ( 0.5) 6 0 0 * Played only 2 games due to injuries work and dedication throughout the season. Alexa, an Erie native, graduated from Cathedral Prep High School and recieved his B.A. in mathematics from St. Francis College in Loretta PA. He is currently a math instructor at Cathedral Prep High School in Erie, and is in his second year as assistant coach of the women's basketball team at Behrend. Alexa has been coaching junior and senior high football, basketball, and baseball in the Erie area for 12 years. He *as the assistant football coach at East High School for seven seasons and is currently the freshman football coach at Cathedral Prep, where he has taught for the past five years. Besides his duties as assistant coach, Alexa is very heavily involved with scouting and recruiting of new student athletes for the sports programs. Head Coach Karin Sobotta feels that "Mike corn pliments me very well, he notices a lot of things that I don't. He has great enthusiasm, and has been a tremendous help to me as well as well as to the team." - Hamilton, a Harrisburg native, is in his sixth season as an assistant basketball coach at Behrend. He played his high school basketball at Bishop McDevitt High School where in 1966. they went to th Eastern PCIAA Basketball Championship. Continuing his basketball career at West Chester University he graduated in 1970. He completed his Masters Degree in Education at Ediboro University. Now in his 15th year as a coach, Hamilton has been highly successful in compiling a career record 54 Gannon 72 T. Laßow 19 R. 69 Brockport 72 R. Gorniak 25 Gorniak 14 R. Gorniak 18 75 Bethany 68 R. Irr 19 R. Gor- 66 Edinboro 82 R. Gorniak 19 R niak 12 Gorniak 16 96 Thiel 87 G. Gorniak 27 R. Gorniak 16 68 St. John 67 R. Gorniak 21 R. Gorniak 19 Fisher 83 Allegheny 87 R. Gorniak 26 R. Gorniak 18 71 Brockport 86 R. Gorniak 23 R. Gorniak 12 64 Buffalo 71 R. Gorniak 28 R. Gorniak 15 52 Houghton 55 R. Gorniak 13 R. Gorniak 10 79 Oberlin 84 R. Gorniak 26 R. Gorniak 17 liev44:thk4, ITALIAN RESTAURANT 3512 Buffalo Road, Wesleyville Phone: 899-3423 • QMMMrWrMMII!fiII 106 Laßoche* 109 G. Gorniak 24 R. Gorniak 15 M. Moller 24 37 John Carroll 48 G. Gorniak 12 R. Gorniak 11 68 Wooster 63 R. Gorniak 27 R. Gorniak 14 73 St. Vincent 87 M. Moller 17 R. Gorniak 17 97 Grove City 68 R. Gorniak 17 R. Gorniak 12 86 Fredonia 70 Gary Zang 25 R. Gorniak 14 of 114-79 as an assistant coach at Fairview. In addition to coaching, Hamilton is a physical education teacher at McDowell High School since 1972. He is also a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves with the 38th M.A.S.H. unit. Alexa and Hamilton will receive a dinner for two, compliments of Bar bato's Restaurant in Wesleyville. Women's basketball assistant coach Mike Alexa. MARCH 19, 1987 Collegian PAGE 9 photo by Jim Cooper 73 Frostburg 64 R. Gorniak 27 R. Gorniak 28 88 Daemen 72 R. Gorniak 17 R. Gorniak 16 68 Mercyhurst 80 R. Gorniak 26 R. Gorniak 20 70 Pitt-Brad 59 R. Gorniak 31 R. Gorniak 14 85 Frostburg 83 R. Gorniak 28 R. Gorniak 16 66 Houghton 76 R. Gorniak 22 R. Gorniak 16 77 Geneva 70 R. Gorniak 20 R. Gorniak 13 80 Daemen 82 R. Gorniak 21 R. Gorniak 17 Final Record: 11-14 * Double Overtime
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