Lions Advance to Championship Game in Holiday Tournament

ROCHESTER, NY - The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team picked up a 76-68 win over Immaculata in their first game in the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Tournament, advancing them to the championship game tomorrow against host-team St. John Fisher.

Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) led all scorers with 21 points after shooting an impressive 10-for-11 from the free throw line and draining three triples. 

Three other Lions (8-2) scored in double digits. Malquan Pullium (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent) went 2-for-3 from three point range and shot 56 percent from the floor to add 15 points to the effort.

Justin Gorny (Pittsburgh, PA/South Park) and Dan Wanker (Pittsburgh, PA/South Park) added 13 and 12 points, respectively. Gorny shot 60 percent from the floor while adding seven rebounds and Wanker added a game-high eight rebounds while going 5-for-10 from the field.

Behrend jumped out to an early first-half lead and held it until just over a four minutes remaining. Connor McLaughlin (Ashtabula, OH/Edgewood) made a layup with 31 second left in the half after pulling down a rebound.

Wanker scored seven of his points in the first 20 minutes after going 3-for-8 from the field.

Pullium and Niland both shot perfect from three-point range as well as the charity stripe to help propel the Lions to an eight-point victory. They both dropped two triples while Niland converted seven free throws.

Malike Brinson (Erie, PA/Cental Tech) added support off the bench, adding eight pionts after shooting 75 percent from the floor in the second half.

Behrend shot 51 percent from the field and pulled down 38 rebounds in the holiday tournament victory. They will take on St. John Fisher tomorrow in the championship game beginning at 3 p.m.