Lions Handed First Defeat of Season At #18 Carnegie Mellon

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team fell for the first time this season, 84-62, at No. 18 Carnegie Mellon on Wednesday night.

Score: No. 18 Carnegie Mellon 84, Penn State Behrend 62
Records: No. 18 Carnegie Mellon (3-1), Penn State Behrend (2-1)

Key Moments:

* Carnegie Mellon jumped out to a 7-0 advantage in the first three minutes of Monday's game
* The Lions responded with a 12-0 run of their own in the next two minutes to take a 9-7 lead
* The back-and-forth first half continued with six ties and four lead changes
* The Tartans regained a 26-21 lead to force a Behrend timeout with 5:59 remaining in the first half
* Out of the timeout, Carnegie Mellon went on a 19-5 run to end the first half with a 43-26 lead
* Justin Allen shot 6-for-14 from the field for the Tartans to lead all scorers with 14 points in the first period, while Matthew McDonough (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny), Mason Blankenberg (Ontario, NY/Wayne), and Isaac DeGregorio (Allison Park, PA/North Catholic) each tallied seven points for the Lions
* Carnegie Mellon extended its advantage with a 16-9 run to start the second half
* Allen and Buckley DeJardin hit back-to-back threes to take a 24-point advantage (59-35) and force a Behrend timeout five minutes into the second period
* The Tartans went up by as many as 29 points (71-42) en route to their third win of the season
* Allen scored a game-high 22 points and five steals to go along with six rebounds for Carnegie Mellon. RJ Holmes registered a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds on Monday
* The Lions were led by McDonough's season-high 17 points, while Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) came down with a team-high seven rebounds. DeGregorio tied his career-high in points with 10 to go along with four rebounds
* Behrend narrowly outrebound Carnegie Mellon (43-42) and outscored the Tartans off the bench (21-20)

Up Next:

* The Lions head to Geneva, NY to compete in the Hobart Tournament this Friday and Saturday. Behrend's game on Friday against Buffalo State begins at 7:45 p.m.