MIAMI, Fl. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team bounced back to defeat Eastern 71-56 in the second day of the Hoop Mia Holiday Shootout on Wednesday morning.
Coming off their second loss of the season, the Lions (9-2) displayed a balanced scoring attack as 10 Behrend players notched points in the game. Dan Wanker (Pittsburgh, PA/South Park) headed the game with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while picking up six rebounds and two steals. Justin Gorny (South Park, PA/South Park) turned in a solid performance adding 13 points, seven rebounds, and two steals.
Playing 34 minutes, Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) recorded seven points and six assists, while Malike Brinson (Erie, PA/Central Tech) posted eight boards, five points, four assists and four steals on 32 minutes.
After an evenly matched battle in the opening 10 minutes, three pointers from Derrick Clark (Erie, PA/Central Tech) and Wanker helped the Lions tally a 10-2 run that broke open the score to 33-21 in favor of Behrend.
The Lions edged the Eagles (5-6) 40-27 heading into the locker room. Behrend shot 50 percent from the field 44.4 percent from behind the arc, while Eastern posted an 18.2 shooting percentage on 2-of-11 from threes.
From the 7:25 mark in the first half, the Lions held a double-digit lead for the majority of the remainder of the game.
It wasn't until the 7:26 mark where Clifton Adams converted on a layup to bring the score within six points.
However, Behrend's defense seemed to be too much to handle for Eastern. The Eagles made only one three pointer the entire second half, finishing the contest shooting 3-for-18 from behind the arc for a 16.7 percent average.
The Lions are back in action after the New Year when they battle in an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) showdown against Medaille on January 3 at 6 p.m.