KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Southern New Hampshire University men's basketball head coach Jack Perri was selected as the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) East District Coach of the Year, while junior Matt Becht (Vienna, Va.) was named to the East All-District First Team, the organization announced Monday.

Perri, in his fifth year, is the first head coach of the SNHU men's basketball program to be named the NABC District Coach of the Year since Stan Spirou in 1995. Perri, who was also voted as the NE10 Coach of the Year this season, guided the Penmen to a 21-9 record, including 16-4 in the NE10. SNHU, which received votes in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll toward the end of the season, claimed its first NE10 Regular-Season Championship since 2016-17, earning the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye for the NE10 Championship. The Penmen bowed out in the semifinal round, but claimed the program's first NCAA postseason berth and advanced to the NCAA Division II East Regional semifinal. It is Perri's first 20-win season since taking the helm in Manchester, as well as the program's first since 2016-17. Perri had the Penmen rolling from Dec. 17 on, going 15-1, including a nine-game winning streak to end the regular season. Overall, SNHU won 17 of its last 20 and extended its win streak to 10 games in the postseason. 

Becht is the program's 19th NABC All-District player and the first since Daquaise Andrews in 2019. Becht, who was also selected for the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) East All-Region Second Team earlier this month and the NE10 All-Conference First Team late last month, played in all 30 games this season, starting 29 of them. He averaged 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest, while knocking down 45.4 percent (138-304) of his shots from the field, including 45.2 percent (90-199) from downtown, and 90.5 percent (95-105) at the line. His 90 3-pointers made ranked seventh in the program's single-season record book. Becht, the Dec. 5 and Feb. 6 NE10 Player of the Week, led the league in 3-pointers made, while ranking second in 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, fifth in free throws made and eighth in scoring. He placed third in the region in 3-pointer field goals made, fourth in free throw percentage, sixth in 3-point field goal percentage, and 14th in free throw percentage. Becht scored in double figures 24 times, including eight straight games twice. His best performance came in an 81-76 win at Bentley University on Feb. 1 when he dropped 34 points.

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