ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team defeated Grove City 69-50 Wednesday night and advanced to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) semifinals.
The Lions (21-6) bounced out of their three-game slump to take down the Wolverines (18-9). Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) provided a spark from behind the arc that the rest of the team fed off of for the entire game.
Niland scored 22 points for the second time this season. Showing he spot up and make a three from just about anywhere, Niland tied career-high six made triples and four foul shots. He also posted a game-high five assists and a career-high seven steals.
As a team, Behrend shot 52.0 percent from the floor, making 26 baskets. Of those 26 made baskets, half were three-pointers. The Lions were on fire from deep, especially in the first half. Only five minutes into the first half, Behrend went on a 24-6 run, where six of their 10 baskets were triples.
Not only was the deep ball a huge threat for the Lions, the paint was a problem area for Grove City to guard. In his final home game, this year's AMCC Player of the Year, Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) dropped 18 in the paint on 9-of-12 shooting. He brought down 12 rebounds to post his 17th double-double of the season.
Shortly after a one-handed tomahawk dunk that put an exclamation point on his career, he was subbed out of his last home game in a Lion uniform. The bench and crowd around him gave Hackett a standing ovation for the incredible work he has put in this season, and during his four-year career.
Justin Gorny (South Park, PA/South Park) was also hot from three. He tied a career-high with four made triples for 12 points of his own.
The Wolverines came out hot and may have shocked the Lions a little in the first two minutes. Grove City jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held a 10-7 advantage through the first four minutes. From there, the Lions settled in and back-to-back threes from Niland tied the game at 10-all, then put Behrend up three for their first and final lead of the game; the Lions never looked back.
Those two threes started the 24-6 run that turned into a 19-point Behrend lead heading into the halftime break at 41-22.
The second half was even on the scoreboard. Both teams scored 28 points and the No. 1 scoring defense in Division III caged the Wolverines' scoring and held them to 20.5 points below their season scoring average (70.5ppg). It was also 10.0 points below the Lions' points allowed per game this season.
Behrend advances to the ECAC semifinals on Saturday, hosted by top-seeded DeSales University. Game time is TBD.
