2007-2008 Penn State Behrend Men's Basketball Season Preview
Last
year the Penn State Behrend men’s basketball team came tantalizingly
close to capturing the AMCC Championship and advancing to the NCAA
Tournament. The blue and white led on the road at Lake Erie for
most of the title game, only to fall by a single point when the
Storm hit a last second three-point basket to steal the win and the
AMCC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Behrend Lions were
rewarded for their outstanding season with a bid to the ECAC
tournament, and made the most of that opportunity advancing all the
way to the title game.
Behrend finished the year with a 21-8 record and the ECAC tournament
appearance marked the program’s tenth postseason trip in the last
eleven years. Head coach Dave Niland returns to guide an
experienced 2007-08 squad boasting five seniors and eleven total
returners from a 2006-07 team that had no seniors. Niland said, “We
are excited about our chances this year. Our experience should be a
valuable strength for us this season and we have a good group of
guys who are focused on playing at a high level.”
Leading the senior class will be 6-7 forward Kevin Buczynski
(Erie/Villa Maria), an all-conference first-team member a season
ago. Buczynski has averaged 17.7 points per game over his career.
His 512 points from a season ago leaves him ninth on the career
leader board and in reach of the all-time scoring mark as he sits
503 points away from the top spot. Joining Buczynski for their
senior seasons will be guards Ben Gasbarre (DuBois/DuBois Central
Catholic) and Doug Straub (St. Marys/Elk County Christian), while
David Gahan (Erie/East) and Dan Zeigler (Johnsonburg/Johnsonburg)
will provide a strong physical presence in the post. Straub saw
time in 28 of 29 games a season ago, while Gasbarre came off the
bench to appear in 19 games for the blue and white. Gahan and
Ziegler both played in all 29 games, shooting over 50% from the
floor and combining to grab 291 rebounds in 2006-07.
The junior class has two members in Tom Newman (Girard/Northwestern)
and Drew Seker (Ellicott, MD/Centennial), both guards for the
Behrend Lions. Newman was second on the team in scoring, averaging
8.1 points per game, while Seker added 6.0 per contest. As
sophomores the two were workhorses, each averaging at least 29
minutes of action and combining for 72 steals on the season.
The
five members of the sophomore class are made up of four returners
and one transfer. Returning players include last season’s AMCC
Newcomer of the Year Justin Kovac (Venetia/Peters Township), Adam
Kaiser (Erie/Cathedral Prep), and DeShawn Haynes (Pittsburgh/Perry),
along with 6-5 forward Adam Potter (Pittsburgh/Mt. Lebanon). Kovac
had a terrific first-year for Behrend, leading the team in assists
with 80 and averaging 7.6 points per game, while Kaiser and Haynes
saw limited time and will look to push to make a bigger impact this
season. Potter also played strong in his rookie campaign for
Behrend, starting 26 games while dropping 144 points last year.
Josh Holzworth (Pulaski/West Middlesex) also joins the blue and
white after transferring from Baldwin-Wallace.
Four freshmen will also be joining the Behrend Lions in 2007-08.
6-5 forward Josh Salter (St. Marys/Elk County Christian) and 6-3
forward Chris Saltzman (Jefferson Hills/Central Catholic) should
both compete for time this season, while 6-7 center Justin Amrhein
(Canonsburg/Canon McMillan) and guard David Holland
(Pottsville/Nativity B.V.M.) will be asked to push others while
adapting their games to the college level.
Progress and player development throughout the season will be a key
to the team’s success. Niland said, “The schedule will be
challenging as always, as the AMCC should again be a strong league
from top to bottom.”
Coach Niland’s squad will again be a target of other AMCC teams as
Penn State Behrend and Lake Erie share the top spot in the league’s
preseason coaches’ poll. The Behrend Lions open up the season with
the Behrend Tip-Off Tournament November 17 and 18 in the Junker
Center. Over the years, the blue and white have enjoyed tremendous
success at home under the direction of Niland. The team has won 81
games at home in the seven years since the Junker Center opened,
good for a stellar .829 home-court winning percentage.
Conference play begins shortly thereafter with a game on the road at
Mount Aloysius at 8:00 p.m. on November 28. The AMCC tournament
begins February 26, with the championship game set for March 1.
Also highlighting the schedule is a holiday trip to Texas for the
Mary-Hardin Baylor Tournament. The blue and white will open the
tournament with a game versus Hendrix College on December 28 at 6:00
p.m.
Joining Niland on the bench will be assistants Justin Jennings and
Rand Garrity. The team has been a prepared and aggressive group in
the past, and will look to continue pressuring opponents on
defense. A season ago, the defense worked over opponents as Behrend
finished fourth in the nation in scoring defense, yielding a meager
58.3 points per game. The blue and white were also ranked 26th
nationally in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to
40% shooting from the floor for the season.
Behrend enters the 2007-08 campaign as an experienced, hard-working,
and talented group, with its sights squarely set on another
postseason run. Niland said, “NCAA and ECAC bids are important
goals to strive for and hopefully we can continue the trend of
reaching the postseason that our program has developed.” Behrend
basketball and postseason play seem to go hand-in-hand and the
Behrend Lions plan for this season to be no different.