Three Named to All-Conference Team; Wallace, Niland Honored
Three Penn State Behrend men’s basketball players were named to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference All-Conference Team while Keith Wallace was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year and head coach Dave Niland was named AMCC Coach of the Year.
ERIE, Pa. – Three Penn State Behrend men's basketball players were named to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) All-Conference Team while Keith Wallace (Erie, PA/Central Tech) was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year and head coach Dave Niland was named AMCC Coach of the Year.
Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) was named to the All-AMCC first-team in addition to Wallace and Shane Skelly (Westlake, OH/Westlake) earning second team all-conference selections.
DeLisio leads the Lions in scoring (13.0 ppg) and assists (3.7 apg). He has served as the trigger man for a 23-4 Behrend team that took both the AMCC regular-season and tournament titles. The junior averaged 22.0 ppg during the conference tournament in leading the Lions to their second straight NCAA appearance. DeLisio was a third-team all-conference selection last season.
Wallace has been tenacious at both ends of the floor for Behrend this season. He led the AMCC in steals with 2.5 per contest and is second on the Lions in scoring (11.2 ppg) and assists (3.5 apg). Thanks in large part to the junior's quickness and aggression, Behrend boasts the nation's fifth best scoring defense, allowing just 58.3 points per game.
Skelly culminated his four-year run with the Lions by posting his best career season, averaging 11.1 points and a team-leading 6.9 rebounds per game. The senior has more double-figure scoring games (18) than any other Behrend player this season and is tied for the team lead in double-doubles, including an 11-point, 10-rebound performance in the AMCC Championship game.
This is head coach Dave Niland's AMCC-record eighth Coach of the Year award. In his 20th season at the helm of the Lions, he has led the program to 20-consecutive winning seasons and five AMCC Tournament titles, more than any other program. Behrend has reached the NCAA Tournament seven times under Niland's leadership and the Lions have posted 20+ wins in 11 of the past 13 seasons.
Behrend will take on Hope College in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Holland, MI.