ERIE, Pa. – Leading 28-18 at halftime, the Penn State Behrend men's basketball team scored 12 straight points to start the second half to help notch a 61-41 victory over Franciscan Saturday afternoon.
Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) was electric from behind the arc draining 5-of-9 three point attempts and finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with six assists and four rebounds.
Leading 22-18 with 3:01 left to play in the first half, the Lions (19-2, 13-1 AMCC) scored six straight points to end the half off a pair of Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) layups and free-throws from Keith Wallace (Erie, PA/Central Tech) and Wes Davic (Grafton, OH/Midview).
Hackett sparked the Lions in the beginning of the second half netting a layup and drawing a foul for the first bucket of the second period. He tacked on the free-throw to complete the three-point play. On the following Franciscan (4-16, 2-12 AMCC) possession Hackett swatted away a shot and then hit a layup on the other end of the floor.
The Lions defense held Franciscan scoreless until the 15:15 mark in the second half allowing Behrend to jump out to a 40-18 lead. The Lions held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game and held their opponent under 50 points for the fourth straight game.
The Lions are red-hot shooting above 50 percent for the third straight game. Behrend shot 22-for-40 and hit 9-of-15 three point attempts. Defensively the Lions forced 19 turnovers and held Franciscan under 40 percent shooting.
Hackett was impressive in the paint blocking four shots. He continued his string of double-digit scoring putting up 10 points and seven rebounds.
Wallace and Malquan Pullium (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent) had strong games each scoring 13 points. Wallace was brilliant driving to the hoop going 5-for-7 from the field and finishing multiple tough layups. He finished with 13 points and five steals.
Pullium was hot all game draining 5-of-6 from the field including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. He also chipped in two steals and two assists.
Having won their last eight games the Lions head into a crucial match-up Wednesday against Medaille. Medaille sits in second place in the AMCC just one game behind Behrend. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. in the Junker Center.