The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team rebounded off Saturday's loss with a convincing win over the D'Youville Spartans on Monday, February 15 by a score of 96-77.
The first half saw up and down the court action as Behrend jumped out to an early lead off a layup by senior Adam Potter (Pittsburgh/Mt.Lebanon). Russ Conley (Transfer/Reynolds) would come off the Behrend bench early in the first half to provide a tremendous spark for the blue and white. Conley produced seven straight points to put the Behrend Lions at a 11-7 advantage at the 13:31 mark in the half. The blue and white would then start to pull away from the Spartans as they built a 20-9 lead with just over 10 minutes to play in the half. D'Youville got the lead cut to six, but Behrend answered with a 5-0 run of themselves. A couple of made three pointers by Adam Kaiser (Erie/Cathedral Prep) and Nick Thorsen (Bethel Park/Bethel park) would send the blue and white to the locker room with 41-28 advantage heading into the second half. Conley had nine points and six rebounds and Potter along with Chris Saltzman (Pittsburgh/Central Catholic) would add eight points apiece in the first twenty minutes. D'Youville was led by Shane Canahais' 10 points and Greg Osikas' eight.
The second twenty minutes saw the Behrend Lions bound and determined not to lose three straight conference games at home. The blue and white saw their lead grow to as much as 14 early on in the second half. Conley was just too much to handle inside as he seemed to make shot after shot. A made layup at the 13 minute mark by Conley saw the Behrend Lions up by 11 heading into the final 10 minutes of the game. A made three pointer by Thorsen at the 11:51 mark was the point in the game where the Behrend Lions really seized control and never looked back. The blue and white's lead grew to as much as 22 late in the game and Coach Niland's squad went on with a decisive victory. Conley poured in a career high 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Kaiser would finish with four three-pointers and 16 points while Saltzman finished with 14 points and eight boards. For D'Youville, Osika led the team with 16 points while Lionel Ellis added 15 points and eight rebounds. Behrend would shoot 53.2% from the floor and 44.4% from long distance. The Spartans finished the game shooting 46.7% from the floor and 47.6% from the three point line.
With the win, the blue and white improve their record to 15-7 overall and 12-6 in the AMCC. D'youville sees their record fall to 5-18 overall and 3-15 in the conference. Next up for the Behrend Lions will be two final conference games beginning on Wednesday, February 17 when they will host the Hilbert Hawks. Behrend will then take to the road for the final regular season game at Penn State Altoona on Saturday, February 20. The AMCC basketball tournament is set to tip off on Tuesday, February 23.
