LHU’s Shoats & Nestor claim major awards, pair of Bald Eagles land on All-PSAC East teams
LOCK HAVEN – Justice Shoats (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Holy Redeemer) and head coach Mike Nestor brought home major awards and a pair of Lock Haven men’s basketball players were named to the 2023-24 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) All-Eastern Division Teams, the conference office announced on Thursday afternoon (March 7).
Shoats was also named to the All-PSAC East First Team as a guard, while Collin Jones (Lock Haven, Pa./Central Mountain) was named to the Second Team as a forward.
Shoats, who earned the program’s first PSAC East Player of the Year since Wali Hepburn in 2023-14, had an historic season on both end of the court and was named PSAC East Athlete of the Week five times this season, twice on offense and three times on defense.
As the only player in the PSAC to rank in the top-10 in both assists and scoring, Shoats ranks second in the conference in points (20.4) and fourth in assists (4.6). The sophomore also ranks third in the conference in steals per game (2.1) and leads the entire PSAC in minutes per game (37.6).
Shoats’ 579 points this season rank fifth all-time in program history for a single season. The point guard scored 20-or-more points in 16 games, including a career-best 28 in a victory over Mansfield.
Jones, who joined the Bald Eagles for his graduate senior season after scoring over 1,000 points during a standout career at Lebanon Valley, was named to the All-Conference Second Team as the only player in the PSAC to come off the bench all season.
In 27 regular season games, Jones powered an electric Bald Eagles’ second unit with 12.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in 21.7 minutes per contest.
Jones shot an efficient 53 percent from the floor, while knocking down 33 percent of his three-pointers as a post player.
Jones scored in double-figures 19 times, including a season-high 28 points in a victory over nationally-ranked East Stroudsburg.
The duo and Nestor helped power the Bald Eagles to a PSAC Eastern Division Championship after securing a 20-7 overall record and 18-4 conference mark. The East title was the first for the program, while the 18 conference wins is a program best and the 20 overall victories was the most since the 1989-90 season.
The historic season led Nestor to his second PSAC East Coach of the Year honor, after earning his first following the 2013-14 season.
On Wednesday night, the Bald Eagles won their first PSAC Championship quarterfinal game since 1990 by downing fourth-seeded West Chester in a dominant 100-76 performance. The victory sets up a semifinal showdown against California (Pa.) on Saturday at noon, hosted by Gannon University.
