Behrend Men's Basketball Improves to 2-0 With Win Over Bethany

Courtesy of Nate Steis

BETHANY, WV – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the young 2023-23 season after a convincing 75-49 win over the Bethany College Bison on Saturday.

Score: Penn State Behrend 75, Bethany 49

Records: Penn State Behrend (2-0), Bethany (0-2)

Key Moments:

* The Lions started the game strong with a 42-18 advantage heading into the halftime break
* Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) led all scorers in the contest with 21 points, including five makes from beyond-the-arc
* DiRienzo has scored in double-figures in both contests to begin the season
* Joining DiRienzo in double figures for the Behrend Lions was the duo of Matthew McDonough (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) with 14 and RJ Marsh (State College, PA/Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy) who added 11
* Junior forward Stefan Milinkovic (Fairport, NY/Fairport) provided a spark off the Lions bench with nine points and six rebounds to his credit
* The Lions outrebounded the Bison 38-27 overall, including grabbing six offensive boards to just two on the side of Bethany
* Eleven players from Behrend found the scoring column, including newcomer Michael Sopko (New Castle, PA/Neshannock) who scored his first collegiate bucket in the victory
* Penn State Behrend connected on 11 three-point attempts in the victory, a margin of 11-5 over the Bison in the game
* Through two contests, the Lions defense is allowing just 49.5 points per contest, one of the top marks in all of Division III men's hoops
* The Bison were led offensively by guards Chance Wells with 13 points and Quinn Hiles who poured in 10.

Up Next:

* The Lions return to action on Thursday for their home opener against the Purple Raiders of Mount Union University. The game will be the first of two on the weekend as the program hosts the Behrend Tip-Off Tournament. Thursday's game time is 7 p.m.