Erie Connection Lead Lions Past D'Youville

BUFFALO, NY -- Three Erie natives led the way for the Penn State Behrend men's basketball team in a 77-53 win over D'Youville on Wednesday night.

Keith Wallace (Erie, PA/Central Tech) had a career high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds and three steals. Mike Knoll (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field with 12 points, and freshman Malquan Pullium (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent) scored a career high nine points for the Lions (15-3, 9-2 AMCC), who won for the 10^th time in 11 games.

John Gemerek scored five quick points for the Spartans (1-18, 1-11 AMCC) to open the game, but it turned out to be the only point in the contest D'Youville was in front.

Wallace made two buckets within 22 seconds of each other at the 16:30 mark to spark a 23-7 Behrend run allowing the Lions to take control of the contest. The surge was also buoyed by Behrend's hot shooting – the Lions were 14-of-25 (56.0 percent) from the field in the first half and went 9-of-10 from the foul line.

The two teams played ping pong for much of the first ten minutes of the second session, with Behrend's lead frequently bouncing back and forth from 15 to 17. Then, at the 9:54 mark, the Lions put the game away for good.

Chris Dudzenski (Latrobe, PA/Latrobe) hit back-to-back three pointers and Pullium followed with another trey to increase the Behrend advantage to 21 with 8:31 left.

The Lions held the Spartans to just 1-for-17 shooting (5.9 percent) from beyond the arc, making a D'Youville comeback essentially impossible. In addition, Behrend bested the Spartans on the glass 19-7 in the second half. Shane Skelly (Westlake, OH/Westlake) led the Lions with nine rebounds.

Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) dished out a career-high nine assists for Behrend and Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) added nine points with six boards.

The Lions finished 12-of-14 from the free throw line as a team (85.7 percent), and are now shooting 74.1 percent on the season.

Behrend will return to the Junker Center on February 1 for a Saturday afternoon showdown with Mt. Aloysius. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.