Hot Shooting Sends Behrend Past Carlow

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team made a season-high 14 three-pointers in a 75-50 victory at Carlow Tuesday evening.

Score: Penn State Behrend 75, Carlow 50
Records: Penn State Behrend (10-9­, 5-5 AMCC), Carlow (3-14, 2-7 AMCC)

Key Moments:

* The Lions took a 6-5 lead in the first five minutes of the contest
* However, the Celtics went on a 9-2 run in the next two minutes to grab a 14-8 advantage and force a Behrend timeout
* Adnan Sbai hit a three-pointer to put the Celtics up by their biggest advantage of nine (19-10) in the half with 10:29 on the clock
* Sbai tallied 15 of Carlow's first 19 points on Tuesday
* Since the Celtics took a 19-10 advantage, the Lions would go a 14-2 run of their own in the next five minutes to take a 24-21 lead
* A Dolan Waldo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) layup and three-point play in the final two minutes of the half gave Behrend a 29-23 advantage heading into halftime
* Sbai was the high man in the first half with 15 points for Carlow, while Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) (eight points) and Waldo (seven points) led the Lions in the first 20 minutes
* Four straight baskets from beyond the arc extended Behrend's lead to 41-26 to start the second half and force a Celtics' timeout
* A James Wesling (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) three-pointer in the final two minutes sealed the Lions 10^th win of the season, giving the team their largest lead of the game of 28 points (71-43)
* In all, Behrend registered nine second half three-pointers to contribute to their season-high 14 triples. The Lions trumped their previous best of 13 three-pointers at Mount Aloysius earlier this year
* As a team, the Lions only recorded three two-point field goals and five free throws made with the rest of the their buckets in the second half coming from beyond the arc
* Behrend shot 53.3 percent (16-for-30) from the field and 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from three in the final 20 minutes
* The Lions defense held their opponent to a season-low 50 points, holding Carlow to 20 percent from three and forcing 14 turnovers
* DiRienzo notched a team-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds
* Matthew McDonough (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) contributed 12 points and four assists, while Waldo finished with 10 points and a career-high seven rebounds off the bench
* 10 Lions scored in Tuesday's contest with eight players making at least one three-pointer
* Sbai delivered a game-high 19 points for the Celtics
* As a team, Behrend outrebounded Carlow (40-31) and outscored the Celtics in points off turnovers (15-13) and bench points (33-10)

Up Next:

* Behrend returns home on Saturday, Feb. 1, taking on Mount Aloysius. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.