Conley Leads Lions to Victory
ERIE, Pa. – Russ Conley (Transfer, PA/Reynolds) had a season-high 27 points and 10 rebounds to help the Penn State Behrend men's basketball team defeat D'Youville 72-68 on Wednesday night in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action.
Despite losing the rebounding battle, the Lions (10-10, 9-5 AMCC) scored 29 points off of turnovers to get back to .500.
Throughout most of the first half, neither team was able to gain much of an advantage. With 6:50 to play, Conley hit a layup to give Behrend their largest lead of the half. However, the Spartans would end the opening stanza on a 16-7 run to take a one point lead into the break.
With the second half underway, the Lions came out fast. After Conley slammed a dunk and made a layup, Pat St. Andrews (State College, PA/State College) capped of a 16-5 run to put Behrend up by 10.
The Lions pushed their lead to as many as 14 in the second half but D'Youville would not go away. In the final 4:26, The Spartans got hot from long range. Kenny Farley hit one three with Raysean Johnson and Jeff Curry each hitting a pair to cut the deficit to just two with 20 seconds to play. Now, with 17 seconds left, D'Youville sent Conley to the charity stripe for two. The junior center connected on both attempts to ice the game and secure the victory for Behrend.
The Lions shot below 50 percent for the first time in their last five outings. Regardless, Behrend tied a season-high by forcing 23 turnovers and hit nine more free throws, proving to be the difference in the outcome.
St. Andrews was perfect from the floor and hit a free throw for 10 points. Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) continued to play well, contributing 13 points. Nick Thorsen (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) led all players with five assists.
The Lions will be back in action on Saturday. Behrend will host Pitt-Greensburg with tip-off set for 2 p.m.
