STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of William Paterson (8-2) by a score of 71-58 Sunday afternoon in the first round of the Tournament of Heroes hosted by the College of Staten Island. Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) led the Lions (7-1) with 19 points shooting 7-for-12 from the field.
Coming off a 15-day break without playing a game, Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) and Keith Wallace (Erie, PA/Central Tech) turned in solid performances for Behrend. Hackett notched 12 points, six rebounds and two steals while Wallace chipped in 11 points and dished out five assists.
After a tightly contested first half, Behrend and William Paterson traded blows throughout the game's final frame. The Lions came out of the locker room with a 31-30 lead and struck first in the second half with a Hackett layup.
Trailing 50-47, Wallace fed DeLisio for a three-pointer that evened up the score at 50 with 8:29 left to play. At the 5:13 mark, Hackett made a critical jump shot to the cut the William Paterson lead to one. The Lions could muster only four more points throughout the final five minutes and took their first loss of the season.
Mike Knoll (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) lifted Behrend coming off the bench with seven points and five rebounds.
The Lions will look to shrug off the loss tomorrow in the consolation game of the Tournament of Heroes. Behrend takes on Misericordia at 5:30 p.m.