Men's Basketball Defends Home Floor With Win Over Allegheny

The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team rebounded from their first loss of the season with a victory over the Allegheny Gators on Wednesday, December 2 at the Junker Center.  The score for the contest was 77 to 70.

The first half saw up and down the floor action as both teams traded hoops early as the biggest lead in the half saw Behrend up 25-15 at the 5:46 mark.  Coming off the bench to provide the first half spark was sophomore Nick Thorsen (Bethel Park/Bethel Park) was perfect from three point range, making three.  The score at the end of the first half saw the blue and white leading 33-23.

The Gators made a run in the second half and cut the lead to six at the 7:52 mark.  A Justin Kovac (Venetia/Peters Township) three pointer increased Behrend's lead to 61-52 with just over five minutes to play.  Coach Niland's squad buckled down at the end and went on to make free throw after free throw to ice the game.  Behrend was a perfect 19-19 on free throws in the second half.  Senior Adam Kaiser (Erie/Cathedral Prep) led the blue and white in points with 15, as Chris Saltzman (Pittsburgh/Pittsburgh Central Catholic) added 12 and Kovac with 13.  Allegheny was led by Charlie Jaicks and George Raftis who each poured in 19 points.

Up next for Coach Niland's Behrend Lions will be a home AMCC contest against the Mount Aloysius Mounties on Saturday, December 5. The blue and white will then take to the road as they will travel for their next three matchups.  Behrend will be at Westminster on December 9 followed by a critical conference game against Frostburg State.  The Behrend Lions will finish the road trip with Division I opponent Cornell on December 31.