ERIE, Pa. – It was essentially a perfect senior night for Casey Courneen (Sewickley, PA/Quaker Valley) and Shane Skelly (Westlake, OH/Westlake).
There's just one problem – it wasn't their last home game.
Courneen and Skelly led the Penn State Behrend men's basketball team to an 87-58 victory over Hilbert in front of a raucous Junker Center crowd on Wednesday night, clinching at least share of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) regular season title for the Lions.
The win also means that Behrend (20-4, 14-3 AMCC) will be the number one seed in the conference tournament and host the AMCC Final Four on February 28 and March 1.
Things didn't come easy for the Lions, at least in the early going.
The Hawks were able to dictate tempo through the first eight minutes as they raced out to leads of 12-3 and 18-10.
It was the play of Malquan Pullium (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent) that helped turn the tide for Behrend. The freshman was dynamic in transition, scoring and feeding Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) who had 13 first half points.
At the same time, the Lions began to dominate defensively. They held Hilbert (19-5, 13-4 AMCC) without a bucket from the 10:34 mark to the 4:40 point in the first half. It was a seismic 19-1 run that took Behrend from a six point deficit to a 12 point lead.
With the momentum on their side and an electrified home crowd, the Lions made quick work of the Hawks in the second half.
Hilbert scored just eight points through the first seven plus minutes of the second session, and Behrend extended its lead to 19 following a Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) three with 12:34 left.
The margin only got wider from there.
Wes Davic (Grafton, OH/Midview) scored eight straight points for the Lions as part of an 11-0 spurt that put Behrend up 29 with 6:30 remaining.
While Hilbert scored 23 points in the first nine minutes and 26 seconds of the contest, Behrend held the Hawks to just 35 points through the final 30:34.
That is a defensive adjustment head coach Dave Niland can be proud of.
He can also be proud of the fact that everyone on the team chipped in. Eleven different players scored for the Lions in what was also a tremendous offensive outburst. Behrend shot 57.4 percent from the field against a team that had been holding the opposition to just 41.0 percent shooting. And the Lions dominated the paint, outscoring Hilbert 52-24 underneath.
Hackett tied his career-high in points (18) and added 11 rebounds.
Courneen finished with 13 points and Skelly grabbed eight boards.
Keith Wallace (Erie, PA/Central Tech) scored 12 while Mike Knoll (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) finished with eight points and four rebounds.
And Tyler Maloney (Carlisle, PA/Cumberland Valley), Dalton Boggs (Stoneboro, PA/Lakeview), and Jordan Grabowski (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper St. Clair) each chipped in two points for Behrend, who won for the 15th time in 17 games.
The Lions will wrap up their regular season on Saturday, February 22 at Penn State Altoona. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
