Big Second Half Propels Lions to Tip-Off Championship

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team defeated John Carroll 71-69 in the championship game of the 2012 Behrend Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions (2-0) erased an 11-point first half deficit to earn their second victory of the season.

The Blue Streaks came out hot, connecting on eight threes in the opening 20 minutes.  Behrend battled hard though, limiting the John Carroll lead to just five with less than five minutes to play.  After Mike Knoll (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) knocked down a jumper, the Blue Streaks ended the first half with two consecutive threes to increase their lead to 43-32 at the break.

With the second half underway, the Lions found their rhythm.  Rob Zewe (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) nailed two quick threes and Russ Conley (Transfer, PA/Reynolds) cashed in four quick points and suddenly Behrend was only down one.

In the final 13 minutes of play, the Lions never trailed but could not run away from John Carroll.  With the game tied at 62-all, Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) and Conley hit four straight free throws.  After the Blue Streaks answered with two of their own, DeLisio took over.  The sophomore guard scored five straight points for Behrend.  John Carroll's final attempt at the buzzer fell short, giving the Lions the thrilling win.

DeLisio was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring 39 points in the two games, including 18 in the title game.  Conley was tabbed to the All-Tournament team after pulling down 10 rebounds and netting 15 points for his second consecutive double-double.

Behrend will be back in action on Tuesday.  The Lions will host Thiel at 8 p.m. in the Junker Center.