ERIE, Pa. – Russ Conley and Chris Saltzman combined to score 49 points to lead the Lions over Ithaca 82-71 to capture the 2010 Behrend Tip-off Tournament Title on Saturday at the Junker Center.
The Lions' (3-0) Conley and Saltzman were named to the 2010 All-Tournament Team along the Bomber's (2-1) Sean Rossi and Jordan Marcus. Conley earned MVP honors posting a game-high 25 points and Saltzman contributed 24 points.
Rossi and Marcus scored 13 and 16 points, respectively. Rossi also added in eight dimes while Andrei Oztemel and Phil Barera also posted double figures for Ithaca. Oztemel went 5-for-10 from behind the arc ending the game with 15 points and tallied a team-high seven rebounds. Barera contributed with 16 points in just 21 minutes of playing time.
A jumper by Saltzman with 17:07 to go in the second half gave Behrend a 10-point advantage. Over the next three minutes, Ithaca went on a 13-3 run to get back into the game. In the stretch Rossi recorded five of his 13 points and an assist to tie the game at 53-all.
A crucial turnover by Rossi in transition led to a Chris Tamasy jumper to end the Bombers run. Conley and Saltzman quickly took control of the game scoring nine of Behrend's 11 points over a three-minute span to give the Lions a 68-59 lead with eight minutes to go in the second half.
Justin Kovac, Conley and Saltzman combined to go a perfect 6-for-6 at the line keep the Lion's undefeated season intact.
In the first half down 20-13, Behrend fought back to tie the game at 20-all thanks to seven straight points by Conley. Ithaca would trail the rest of the night. A three-pointer by Kovac put the men up 43-36 going into the second half.
The Lions return to the Junker Center next Saturday at 7 p.m. to take on Westminister.
All-Tournament Team
Russ Conley- Behrend (MVP)
Chris Saltzman- Behrend
Luke Tomaselli- Grove City
Kyle Clinedinst- Muskingum
Sean Rossi- Ithaca
Jordan Marcus- Ithaca