ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team entered Saturday's game against La Roche with the fourth ranked defense in the nation.
And it's not by accident.
The Lions stifled the Redhawks all afternoon, holding La Roche to just 14 first-half points on their way to a 69-49 win at the Junker Center.
Casey Courneen (Sewickley, PA/Quaker Valley) scored 16 points with four assists and was 5-of-5 from the foul line for Behrend (19-4, 13-3 AMCC), as the Lions won for the 14th time in their last 16 games.
The Redhawks went just 16-of-48 (33.3 percent) from the field and had 16 turnovers.
Behrend held La Roche (12-11, 8-8 AMCC) scoreless for a seven minute and 20 second span midway through the first half en route to a 20 point lead heading into the locker room.
In the second half, the Lions greatest challenge seemed to be foul trouble.
Although Behrend had three players with three or more fouls, the Redhawks were unable to make much headway, as they could only cut into their halftime deficit to by two to 18.
It was at that moment, up 18, when the Lions surged. They went on a 12-2 run thanks in large part to a Malquan Pullium (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent) three and a Courneen three-point play. When the spurt finally ended, Behrend was up 25 and the game was no longer in doubt.
Much of the Lions offensive success came underneath. Behrend outscored the Redhawks 38-22 in the painted area.
The Lions had four double-digit scorers in all, as Keith Wallace (Erie, PA/Central Tech) and Shane Skelly (Westlake, OH/Westlake) each scored ten, and Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) had 12 points in just 29 minutes.
On Wednesday, Behrend will host Hilbert with first place and possible home court advantage in the AMCC Tournament on the line. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
