WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team fell to Trine 63-55 in the first round of the Smokey Ballenger Tournament hosted by Otterbein on Friday afternoon.

Both teams came out slow with the Thunder holding a slim 6-2 lead at the 13:30 mark of the opening stanza.  Halfway through the first half, Trine pushed the advantage to as many as seven.  Behrend finally found some offense, outscoring the Thunder 21-13 over the final 10:35 to grab a one-point halftime lead.

Trine started the second half on a 13-4 run to regain control.  After a made three-pointer, the Thunder had all the momentum, now up by nine.  Chris Dudzenski (Latrobe, PA/Greater Latrobe) sparked the Behrend offense with a quick three.  Shane Skelly (Westlake, OH/Westlake) cashed in two from the free throw line as Russ Conley (Transfer, PA/Reynolds) followed with a layup and suddenly the Lions were only down three.  Pat St. Andrews (State College, PA/State College) got in on the action and hit a three to tie the game at 41-all.  Two minutes later the contest was knotted at 48-48, but the game swung in favor of Trine.

After taking a 50-48 lead at the 6:41 mark, the Thunder never trailed again and outscored the Lions 13-7 to earn the win and advance to tomorrow's championship game.

Conley led the way for Behrend with 14 points and eight rebounds.  Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) and Skelly each chipped in 10 points.

The Lions will be back in action tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the consolation game.