AMCC MEN'S BASKETBALL: CELEBRATING 20 YEARS

The AMCC is embarking on its 20th anniversary during the 2016-17 academic year. Since 1997 there have been many outstanding teams and individual student-athletes who have risen to the top of their sports.  We are honored to recognize and highlight some of those accomplishments throughout this anniversary year.

Penn State Behrend has produced 11 of the 20 players of the year in men's basketball. The Lions also feature a trio of two-time players of the year, including James Curren, Kevin Buczynski, and Russ Conley. Curren was named Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004. In 2003, he averaged 17.7 points per game, grabbed 190 rebounds and dished out 57 assists while making 126 free throws on 167 attempts. Curren also became the second player in program history to be named to the All-Great Lakes Region Second Team after earning the first of two AMCC Player of the Year awards. He followed that up in 2004 when he averaged 16.9 points per game, 8.0 rebounds per game and a 54.8 field goal percentage. For his career, he was a two-time conference player of the year, a three-time first team all-conference selection, and was named to the second team as a freshman when he earned Newcomer of the Year honors. Buczynski earned Player of the Year honors in 2006 and 2008. In 2006 he averaged 18.7 points per game with a top-ranked 61.0 field goal percentage along with 6.5 rebounds per game. In 2008, Buczynski led the Behrend Lions to the AMCC title, averaging 15.7 points per game, 6.6 rebounds per game, and a league-best 59.5 field goal percentage. Conley was name Co-Player of the Year in 2012 after averaging 16.7 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game and propelling his team to the conference tournament finals. In 2013, he picked up the honor outright after he led the league in scoring with 19.6 points per game and a 60.9 field goal percentage and was ranked fifth in rebounding at 8.1 rebounds per game.

Rounding out the two-time AMCC players of the year is Pitt-Bradford graduate Matt Beacom. Beacom, named player of the year in 2001 and 2002, still ranks first in the AMCC record books for single season points scored (630) and single season rebounds (328). He is also sixth all-time with his 21.7 points per game average and fifth with 11.3 rebounds per game. Matt was was an AMCC all-conference first-team selection three straight years and a second-team honoree as a freshman. Beacom led the Panthers to an AMCC championship and the program's first NCAA tournament bid in 2001-02.

La Roche College's Mike Dixon and D'Youville College's Julian Reed were each two-time Defensive Players of the Year. In 2011, Dixon helped lead the Redhawks to an AMCC Championship as he ranked third in the AMCC in steals and ninth in rebounding. In 2012, Dixon won his second straight AMCC Defensive Player of the Year award when the Redhawks shared the AMCC Regular Season Title. Reed, named Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015, was a defensive force for the Spartans for his entire career. During his senior season, he led the AMCC in blocks with 104, which was nearly three times as many as the next player. Reed averaged 4.2 blocks per game, and recorded at least two blocks in 24 of 25 games in 2015. On December 30 against Houghton, Reed recorded a career-high 10 blocks in a triple-double effort. Nationally, Reed ranked second in total blocks and blocks per game and was second in the conference with 180 defensive rebounds.

We are proud to honor the complete line-up of AMCC Men's Basketball Players of the Year from 1997-2016:

MEN’S BASKETBALL (OFFENSIVE)

2016 – Zane Hackett, BEH - Hackett finished the season with 16 double-doubles, good enough for eighth in the nation. He led the AMCC, and was eighth in Division III, with a 62.9 field goal percentage, and finished the season fifth in the AMCC scoring with 16.8 points per game. 
2015 – Nick DeLisio, BEH - DeLisio, a three-time AMCC all-conference selection, led the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio with 2.0 and ranked second in the AMCC with 4.6 assists per game.  His 43.8% from long range put him 19th in the nation and fourth in the AMCC. 
2014 – Shawn Greenfield, MAC – Greenfield was ranked as one of the highest scorers in NCAA Division III in 2014, finishing the year with a 26.0 ppg scoring average and a was a two-time AMCC Player of the Week.
2013 – Russ Conley, BEH - Conley led the league in scoring (19.6 ppg) and field goal percentage (60.9) and was ranked fifth in rebounding (8.1 rpg).
2012 - David Palmer, UPG (CO-POTY) - Palmer was the AMCC's second leading scorer (18.8 ppg) and top rebounder (13.0 rpg)
2012 - Russ Conley, BEH (CO-POTY) - Conley's 16.7 ppg and 7.2 rpg propelled his team to the conference tournament finals.
2011 – Nate Wojciechowski, LRC (CO-POTY) - Wojciechowski averaged 14.1 ppg and was instrumental in leading the Redhawks to the conference crown and first NCAA tournament berth.
2011 - Chris Saltzman, BEH (CO-POTY) - With a 17.3 scoring average, Saltzman was named to the all-conference first team for the second time
2010 – Keith Hack, MED - Hack is a first team all-conference selection for the second year in a row after twice leading his team to the league championship.  He averaged 14.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg and a .500 field goal percentage
2009 – Daniel Waajid, UPG - Waajid, a two-time first team all-conference selection, contributed 15.1 ppg and 11.9 rpg as he led the league in rebounds.
2008 – Kevin Buczynski, BEH - Buczynski led the Behrend Lions to the AMCC title, averaging 15.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and a league-best 59.5 field goal percentage. 
2007 – Dallas Reinard, HIL - Reinard, who was the AMCC's leading scorer with 22.1 ppg and the most accurate three-point shooter (43.8%, 3.0 3FGM per game), led the Hawks to the conference semifinals for the second season in a row.
2006 – Kevin Buczynski, BEH - Buczynski averaged 18.7 ppg with a top-ranked 61.0 FG% along with 6.5 rpg.
2005 – Kevin Conlon, UPG – Three-time AMCC first team all-conference selection. 
2004 – James Curren, BEH - Curren averaged 16.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg and a 54.8 field goal percentage. He is a repeat choice as player of the year, a three-time first team all-conference selection, and was named to the second team as a freshman when he earned Newcomer of the Year honors. 
2003 – James Curren, BEH - Averaged 17.7 ppg, grabbed 190 rebounds and dished out 57 assists while making 126 free throws on 167 attempts. Curren also became the second player in program history tobe named to the All-Great Lakes Region Second Team after earning the first of two AMCC Player of the Year awards.
2002 – Matt Beacom, UPB
2001 – Matt Beacom, UPB
2000 – Chris Hughes, BEH – Hughes made an impression on the men’s basketball program in his short two-year career at Behrend. He earned AMCC Newcomer of the Year, all-conference first team, and AMCC Player of the Year. His senior year, he was named both Scholar and Male Athlete of the Year for the Lions. 
1999 – Brock Bovaird, BEH - Bovaird was named the AMCC Player of the Year and again to the first-team all-conference squad. After scoring 12.9 ppg, he increased his rebounding and assist totals in his second season while leading the blue and white to a school record 21 wins, a conference regular season title, and lifted the program to its highest regional ranking of second in the NCAA East region, while also winning the program’s first-ever ECAC South Region Championship. Bovaird was selected honorable mention All-American by the Division III News, and was selected as the program’s MVP for the second straight season.
1998 – Pat Cullinan, UPB

MEN’S BASKETBALL (DEFENSIVE)

2016 – Jerame Owens, HIL - Owens led the AMCC in steals (60), finished second in defensive rebounds (200), and second in blocks (34). On the national level, Owens ranks 27th in steals per game (2.33), 17th in total steals (63), and 14th in defensive rebounds per game (8.0). For his collegiate career, Owens is Hilbert College's all-time leader in defensive rebounds (777), defensive rebound average (7.3), blocked shots (147), steals (202), and steals averaged (1.9).
2015 – Julian Reed, DYC - Reed has been a defensive force for the Spartans all season long. He led the AMCC in blocks with 104, which three nearly three times as many as the next player. Reed averaged 4.2 blocks per game, and recorded at least two blocks in 24 of 25 games this season. On December 30 against Houghton, Reed recorded a career high 10 blocks in a triple-double effort. Nationally, Reed ranks second in total blocks and blocks per game. Reed is also second in the conference with 180 defensive rebounds.
2014 – Julian Reed, DYC (CO-DPOTY)
            Keith Wallace, BEH (CO-DPOTY)
2013 – Matt Gehret, PSA - Gehret averaged 7.4 rebounds and 3.4 blocks, which ranked him #4 in the nation
2012 – Mike Dixon, LRC –  Dixon won his second straight AMCC Defensive Player of the Year award. He helped the Redhawks share the AMCC Regular Season Title.
2011 – Mike Dixon, LRC - Dixon helped the Redhawks win the AMCC Championship and the team lead the AMCC in rebounds. He ranked third in the AMCC in steals and ninth in rebounding.
2010 – Mike Williams, LRC - With Williams, La Roche gave up just 63.6 points per game to rank second in the AMCC.