ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team edged past Pitt-Greensburg 87-79 in a hard-fought Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) matchup Sunday afternoon.
Four Lion (10-1, 5-1 AMCC) players score in double figures to help knock off the Bobcats (8-5, 5-1 AMCC) who were previously unbeaten in conference play.
Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) continues his hot streak, scoring a game-high 29 points on a career-high 11 made baskets. He also brought down 11 rebounds. Matt Colpoys (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) finally broke his career-high point total of 12, after recording that number three separate times this season. He finished with 13 points, three rebounds and a career-high eight assists.
Freshmen Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) and Justin Gorny (South Park, PA/South Park) also added double digit scoring performances for Behrend. Niland, coming off his career high 22-point game yesterday, dropped 15 with three assists and two steals. Gorny tied his career-high with 14 points, draining four of his six three-point attempts.
Malquan Pullium (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent), along with Hackett, was all over the glass for the Lions. Pullium secured a game and career-high 12 rebounds, eight of which were defensive. He finished one point shy of a double-double with nine, two blocks, two steals and an assist.
Pitt-Greensburg surged back from a 17-point deficit at halftime to eventually take the lead late in the second half. Rocco Contristano and Jerell Figueroa led the charge for the Bobcats. Contristano finished with 25 points thanks to a 12-for-13 performance from the charity stripe. Figueroa finished with 27 himself, shooting 10-of-19 from the floor, including 5 of those buckets from beyond the arc.
A close game early was broken up by a 14-1 run by Behrend to open up a 13-point lead midway through the first half. Greensburg battled to keep the deficit to a minimum, but the Lions were able to match their intensity and secure a 50-33 advantage going into the break behind Hackett's 18 and Niland's 10 points.
The second half was a different story for Behrend. After shooting just over 56 percent from the floor and 60 percent from three in the first half, the Lions shot 39 percent from the floor and 20 percent from three in the second half.
The Bobcats took advantage of missed shots and turned them into points on the other end. An 8-0 run early in the second brought them within eight of Behrend. A minute later, Pitt-Greensburg started a 9-0 run that made the deficit only two.
The Bobcats were able to tie the game at 67-all and then again at 70-all. With just under three minutes left to play in a 75-74 game, the Lions went on a 9-0 run of their own to open the game back up and give themselves a cushion going down the final stretch to secure their sixth consecutive win.
Behrend is back in action Wednesday at home in the Junker Center once again. They take on Medaille with a 6 p.m. tip.
