ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team pushed their winning streak to 12 games Wednesday evening, defeating Pitt-Bradford by a score of 74-58 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action.
The Lions (16-1, 11-1 AMCC) rallied around the three ball to capture their 11th conference win of the season. The Panthers (6-12, 5-6 AMCC) would not give Behrend a big 30-point type win like they had the first time these teams met this season however.
Freshman Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) stole the show in the rematch. Niland set a new career-high with 26 points, tying a career-high with six made buckets. He was 4-of-8 from behind the arc.
Niland also drained 10 of 12 free throw attempts, a mark that sets a career-high with made free throws and ties him with Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) for the most made free throws in a game this season.
A close game early, was split wide open by the Lions in the second half. Behrend outscored Bradford 34-22 in the second half behind 47.4 percent shooting from the floor, including 46.2 percent from three.
Behrend's third ranked defense in the country held the Panthers to 21.9 percent shooting in the second half and 36.7 percent for the game. They also forced Bradford to miss 11 of their 12 three-point attempts in the second half, leading them to beat their 59.4 points per game allowed average by a point (58).
They also held the two leading scorers in the AMCC to well under their season averages, Evan Greening and Eric Matheson led the conference with 19.1 and 19.0 points per game respectively. The Lion defense held them to 12 points each on 3-of-10 and 5-of-17 from the floor respectively.
Behrend found themselves in a little bit of trouble early on. After a quick basket by Hackett to point the Lions on the board first, Bradford went on an 8-0 run to give them all the momentum to start the game.
The Lions would not be phased however. They stayed cool and tied the game at 12 after Connor McLaughlin (Ashtabula, OH/Edgewood) drew a foul on a three attempt and sank all three of his foul shots.
A Hackett layup gave Behrend a 17-15 advantage and they never looked back from there. This would be the final lead change of the game. Hackett finished the game with seven points and eight rebounds; the first time this season he has not cracked into double digit points or double digit rebounds in a game.
A four-point Lion advantage at the break turned into a 16-point win when the final buzzer sounded. Behrend maintained a seven to 10-point lead for the majority of the second half. Two made free throws by Niland, with just under five minutes left, jumpstarted a 12-0 run that blew the game open for Behrend and secured their 12th straight win.
Behrend returns back home Saturday when they face off against Penn State Altoona for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
