Wallace Sets Steal Record, Lions Defeat Medaille

Buffalo, N.Y. - Keith Wallace (Erie, PA/Central Tech) became the Penn State Behrend men's basketball team all-time steal leader with two steals in a 88-76 victory over Medaille Wednesday night. Wallace claims the top spot with 172 steals over his four-year career.

The Lions (12-2, 6-1 AMCC) scored a season-high 88 points and shot 56.1% percent from the field (32-57).  Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) paced Behrend with a career-high 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting and just missed a double-double finishing with nine rebounds. He also swatted away three shots.

Both squads were red-hot from the field each shooting over 50 percent in the contest. The Lions headed to the locker room at half with a 38-32 lead after leading for most of the first half. Behrend was able to pull away in the second half and notched a double-digit lead at the 10:34 mark off a Mike Knoll (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) layup. Knoll played well off the Behrend bench hitting each of his four shots and going 3-for-4 from the foul line.

The Lions could hardly miss in the second half hitting 17-of-28 shots (60.7%) and held at least an eight point advantage from the 10:17 mark until the end of the game. Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) notched 20 points and a season-high nine assists.

Malquan Pullium (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent) and Wes Davic (Grafton, OH/Midview) both chipped in double-figures as five different Lions notched 10-plus scoring outings. Davic double-doubled for the third time in four games putting up 12 points and 10 rebounds. Pullium had a nice game scoring 11 points to go with two rebounds and a steal.

Behrend won the battle of the boards 33-to-23 and hit 20-of-26 free-throws. The Lions step closer to first place in the AMCC with tonight's win and are tied with Pitt-Greensburg and Hilbert for the top spot.

Behrend continues conference play Saturday hosting Mt. Aloysius at 4 p.m.