AMCC Men's Basketball Game of the Week: Hilbert College Hawks @ Penn St. Behrend Lions (Wednesday, February 18 - 8:00 p.m.)
This week's men's basketball Game of the Week features a rematch of last year's championship game, where Penn St. Behrend defeated Hilbert College 66-51. Currently, the Hawks have their eyes on the #2 seed, as they are trying to strengthen their position heading into the AMCC tournament. Behrend defeated Hilbert 73-52 on January 19.
The Hilbert College men’s basketball team is coming off two impressive offensive showings last week. The Hawks (18-5, 12-4) averaged 99.5 points per game and were productive on both ends of the floor. Hilbert has multiple weapons to choose from with four different players averaging double figure scoring in league games as the regular season comes to an end. Junior Jerame Owens, this week’s AMCC Player of the Week, leads the charge with 17.6 points per game and is the only player to average a double-double (10.4 rpg) in conference play. Junior Sean Weisansal (15.0 ppg) is an inside-out threat and dishes for 3.7 apg. Senior Trevor Stark quarterbacks the team and leads the league with 5.9 assists per game while chipping in 11.9 ppg. In league games only, Hilbert ranks second-best in 3-point field goal percentage, rebounds, assists, blocks, and personal fouls. The Hawks lead the conference with 47.9 field goal percentage.
The Lions enter Wednesday night's game coming off ten straight conference victories and boast a 21-2 overall record. Behrend is on the verge of cracking the d3hoops.com Top 25 poll after receiving 50 votes this past week, the most of any team not in the Top 25. Senior guards Nick DeLisio and Keith Wallace have guided the sqaud to a 21-2 start and a first place AMCC regular-season finish. DeLisio is a reigning first-team All-Conference selection and has not disappointed in 2014-15, averaging 14.8 ppg and a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. Wallace is the reigning AMCC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and currently is tied for the conference lead with 2.4 steals per game. The Lions defense has shut-down opponents all year and stands second in the nation in scoring defense at 55.0 ppg. The bigs for Behrend have played big all year. Sophomore Wes Davic stands seventh in the nation in rebounding, hauling in 11.3 per game and sits third in the nation with 4.32 offensive rebounds per game. Those marks lead the AMCC. Junior Zane Hackett leads the team in scoring at 15.5 ppg. Hackett is shooting 58.6 percent from the field and brings in 6.5 rpg.
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