BUFFALO, NY – Chris Saltzman scored a season-high 28 points and added six rebounds to give Behrend a 66-62 edge over Medaille in Allegheney Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) play Wednesday night.
Russ Conley and Shane Skelly combined to score 25 points and grabbed 10 boards for the Lions (5-0, 1-0 AMCC) while Justin Kovac dished out five assists. The Mavericks (2-3, 0-1 AMCC) led by Ron Malicki's 14 points, were helped out by Joe Mogavero's 13 points and seven rebounds and Ricky Reed's nine points and four dimes.
Medaille gained a 13-8 lead, their largest of the half thanks to a triple by Josh Laureano at the 10 minute mark. Behrend managed to score back-to-back buckets by Conley and Dan Simpson to come within one point, 13-12. Conley and Saltzman each drilled a pair of free-throws giving the Lions a 24-23 edge going into the second half. The forward-center duo dropped 19 of the teams 24 first half points.
A big 3-pointer by Ron Malicki with 1:26 left in regulation put the Mavs down five. With little time to spare Medaille immediately set up a full-court press hunting for a steal or a foul. Conley capitalized on the pressure netting two attempts from the charity stripe to push the Behrend lead to eight, 60-52. Not giving up on the game just yet, Mav's forward Malicki gave the team hope with an old-fashion three-point play leaving his team down by four, 61-57.
In the final 30 seconds, Medaille cashed in on two free-throws and a 3-pointer by Ricky Reed but the Lions shooting six-of-nine from the line was enough to beat the Mavs, 66-62 and for the first time since January 2009.
Behrend will return to action December 4, to take on Penn State Altoona at 4 p.m.