Lions Fall in NCAA Second Round

HOLLAND, Mi. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team fell to Wheaton (IL) 68-40 on Saturday night in the second round of the 2014 Division III NCAA Tournament.

The Lions trailed by just two, 27-25, at the break following a Casey Courneen (Sewickley, PA/Quaker Valley) three with 1:13 left in the period.

The Thunder came out of the locker room red-hot by going on a 17-2 run that opened up the contest.

Behrend eventually cut a 17 point Wheaton lead to 13 after two Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) free throws, but the Thunder scored the next nine points to keep the Lions at bay.

Wheaton outscored Behrend 41-15 in the second half.

Courneen tied for the team lead with 10 points. The senior bookended the first half with three-points that in each instance gave Behrend momentum.

Shane Skelly (Westlake,OH/Westlake) capped off a spectacular career with nine points. Last night, the senior scored six straight points at the end of regulation and in overtime to push the Lions into the second round.

Keith Wallace (Erie, PA/Central Tech) scored 10 for Behrend, and Hackett added six points and led the squad with seven rebounds.

The Lions end one of their greatest seasons in program history with a 24-5 record, an AMCC regular season and tournament championship, and an NCAA Tournament victory. Courneen and Skelly are now just the third group of seniors in Behrend history to go out having won an NCAA Tournament game.