ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team got back to their winning ways Wednesday evening after rolling past Pitt-Bradford 78-48 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action.
The Lions (5-1, 2-1 AMCC) rallied around the three ball to capture their second conference win of the season. The Panthers (2-4, 1-1 AMCC) high-scoring, 79.0 points per game, offense was shut down by Behrend's impenetrable scoring defense which is ranked fifth in the country at 57.8 points per game.
Pitt-Bradford and the Lions kept the game very close in the early minutes, trading buckets and leads throughout the first 11 minutes. The Panthers forced two ties, two lead changes and a six-point lead to put Behrend on their heels.
A three by Connor McLaughlin (Ashtabula, OH/Edgewood) at the 11:07 mark started a 9-4 run by the Lions to tie the game at 20 with just under nine to play in the half. McLaughlin finished with eight points, six boards and a career-high five assists off the bench.
Behrend then started raining threes to jump on an 18-4 run to finish the half. Malike Brinson (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy) hit one to tie the game at 20 and another just after that to give the game its final lead change.
Mike Fischer (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny), making his first collegiate start, dropped two triples. Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) also drained two, including a near half-court shot off a Bradford turnover that hit nothing but net as the buzzer sounded to end the first half.
The seconds half was the same story for Behrend, the only exception being they scored their points in the paint instead of behind the arc.
In the half, Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) went 6-for-6 to help in recording his fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 boards.
Malquan Pulliam (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent) and Dan Wanker (Pittsburgh, PA/South Park) each went 4-for-4 from the floor to add more inside scoring for the Lions. Pullium finished with 10 points, five rebounds and a season-high four dimes. Wanker set season-highs in points (9) and rebounds (4).
As a team, the Lions had four people score in double figures. The team shot 52.6% in total, 44.4% from range and outrebounded the Panthers 47-23. All of these figures aided in giving Behrend their biggest margin of victory of the season (30).
Behrend returns to action Saturday when they travel to Penn State Altoona for a 1 p.m. tip-off.
