Men's Basketball Wins Home Opener

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team took down Fredonia State 75-46 in their home opener at Junker Center on Wednesday night.

After allowing the first point of the game, the Lions (1-0) never surrendered a lead in the remainder of the contest. Behrend held a comfortable lead for majority of the game thanks in part to 12 first-half points from junior Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) and eight from Justin Gorny (South Park, PA/South Park).

Niland registered a career-high 28 points in the game while also tying a career high in made three points by knocking down six-of-11 shooting. His all-around efforts helped him tally five rebounds, five steals, and four assists.

After not scoring a point in the opening 4:10 of the game, a quick 17-5 run in the following six and half minutes by the Lions kept the Blue Devils (0-1) out of reach. A couple buckets by Fredonia late in the first cut the lead to eight, but Gorny added a basket just under a minute left to push the lead to back to ten. A Behrend foul shot followed by an Ian Helps layup with 13 seconds left brought the game to 31-22 at halftime.

From the 18:17 mark of the second half, a Dan Wanker (Pittsburgh, PA/South Park) layup put the Lions back up by double digits which they were able to maintain for the remainder of the game. The lead for Behrend continued to rise as the game went on.

Behrend shot 54.8 % from the field in the second half. Niland drilled four threes in the second to notch 14 points while Wanker and Gorny each scored eight. Wanker also brought down 11 rebounds in the game, one-shy of tying his career-high.

The Lions are back in action Monday when they travel to Thiel. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.