Lions Down Carnegie Mellon to Kick Off New Year

ERIE, Pa. – Senior Russ Conley (Transfer, PA/Reynolds) scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to lead the Penn State Behrend men's basketball team to a 66-53 non-conference victory over Carnegie Mellon on Wednesday evening.

The Lions (7-4) took care of the ball, committing a season-low eight turnovers, and shot 54 percent from the floor to earn their second straight victory.

Midway through the opening half, Behrend made a run and stole the momentum.  After a tight first ten minutes, the Lions started to open up a lead.  With the score tied at 14-all at the 10:33 mark, Behrend's offense found some rhythm, outscoring the Tartans 17-8 to close the first half.

With the second half underway, Carnegie Mellon began their comeback.  The Tartans started the second twenty on a 10-4 run to cut the deficit to just three.  Conley and Adam Palcic (Greensburg, PA/Greensburg Central Catholic) put an end to the rally with Palcic draining a three between two Conley layups.  Keith Wallace (Erie, PA/Central Tech) and Shane Skelly (Westlake, OH/Westlake) got in on the action with back-to-back layups and within four minutes, the Lions had put together an 11-0 run.

The two teams traded buckets for the rest of the half.  The Tartans final comeback effort fell short, trailing by at least eight for the final 11 minutes of the game.

Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) chipped in 13 points for the Behrend offense.  Palcic, Wallace, and Skelly all netted eight points.

The Lions will travel to Franciscan on Saturday and Penn State Altoona on Sunday.  Both games are set to begin at 3 p.m.