DelVal Aggies, One Of Region's Best In D-III Hoops

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Delaware Valley University Aggies out in Doylestown have been one of the region's top teams in Division III all season long.

DelVal is 16-3 and riding a four-game winning streak. The Aggies are alone in first place in the Freedom Conference with a 7-1 mark.

This success is no accident as head coach Casey Stitzel raves about the group he has this year.

"The leadership has continued to improve," Stitzel tells KYW Newsradio. "The young guys are starting to even take a leadership role and continue to get better on and off the court. It's been a really great group to coach. Every day has been exciting to go to practice and I feel like we take a step every day we take the floor, which is awesome."

Listen to the entire interview with DelVal's Casey Stitzel:

Senior forward/center Chris Moran is having a fine campaign for the Aggies. The Whitehall, Pennsylvania native leads the team in both scoring (18.9 ppg) and rebounding (9.7 rpg). He is shooting 50% from the field and 44% from three.

"He's been huge," Stitzel says. "I challenged him before the year started, I said, 'You're a great player. You're one of the most talented players I've ever had. But now can you be a winner? And that entails making others better.' He's done that through leadership. He's done that on the court."

And the coach thinks Moran hasn't maxed out yet.

"I still think he can go to another notch," Stitzel adds. "I'm excited to see how he can improve here and hopefully lead us into the playoffs here in the next couple of weeks."

No matter where the conversation with Stitzel goes, it always seems to come back to how much he thinks of his group this season.

"Our culture is phenomenal," Stitzel says. "We're a family. Everything we do, win or lose, we do together. It's just been a great group. When you can just focus on coaching x's and o's and you don't have to worry about managing your team, then you know you have a chance to have a great season. Especially when you have some great players like we do."

The Aggies return to action on Wednesday night when they visit Manhattanville College up in Purchase, New York.