ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team defeated Pitt-Greensburg 91-64 on senior day Saturday afternoon. Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) led the squad with 22 points draining ten of his 13 field goal attempts and added seven rebounds.
With the victory the Lions (23-2, 17-1 AMCC) matched the 1999-2000 team for the best start in program history with 23 wins in their first 25 games.
Behrend entered the game looking to avenge their only conference loss earlier this season to Pitt-Greensburg (13-12, 13-5 AMCC) and extend their winning streak to 12 games. This season's graduating class stepped up in their final regular-season home game netting a combined 47 points.
The Behrend offense clicked on all cylinders Saturday as the Lions shot 51.4 percent in the game and turned the ball over just five times. The Lions scored a season-high 91 points with 11 different players notching points in the contest.
Senior Dan Kress (Erie, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) started for the first time all season and sparked the Behrend offense scoring the Lions first eight points of the game including two three-pointers. The eight points was a new career-high.
Pitt-Greensburg shot the ball well early on and held a 27-26 advantage with 6:51 left to play in the first half. Mike Knoll swung the momentum in Behrend's favor making a layup at the 6:23 mark that started an 11-0 run.
With just over a minute before halftime, Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) and Hackett teamed up for the play of the game. Coming off a Keith Wallace (Erie, PA/Central Tech) steal, DeLisio tossed the ball up to Hackett who slammed down a thunderous dunk and converted the alley-oop play to give the Lions a 46-33 lead. Connor McLaughlin (Ashtabula, OH/Edgewood) tacked on a three-pointer with four seconds before the half to send the Lions to the locker room with a 49-36 lead.
Behrend scored 14 points in the first five minutes of the second half jumping out to a 63-44 lead. DeLisio and Hackett teamed up for a second alley-oop at the 15:38 mark in the second half capping off what has been an excellent regular-season for the Lions. Behrend outscored Pitt-Greensburg 42-28 in the second frame and avenged their previous loss to the Bobcats.
DeLisio ended the game with 12 points and dished out eight assists in his final regular-season home game as a Behrend Lion. Mike Knoll (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) tied his season-high with 11 points off the bench. Knoll also hauled in seven rebounds.
Wes Davic (Grafton, OH/Midview) came off the bench for the first time this season scoring nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.
In Wallace's final regular-season home game, he filled up the stat sheet contributing in all areas of the game. Wallace had eight points, six assists, five steals and five rebounds.
As the number one seed, Behrend will host the final four of the AMCC Tournament. Riding a 12-game winning streak, the Lions await the winner of the number four seed Hilbert Hawks and the five seed Pitt-Bradford Panthers. The semi-final game is slated for next Friday at 6 p.m.
