DiRienzo Propels Behrend Men's Basketball into AMCC Semifinals

GREENSBURG, Pa. – Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) dropped a career-high 35 points and 10 rebounds to help the No. 5 Penn State Behrend men's basketball team defeat No. 4 Pitt-Greensburg in the first round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Tournament on Tuesday night.

Score: Penn State Behrend 76, Pitt-Greensburg 63
Records: Penn State Behrend (11-15, 5-9 AMCC), Pitt-Greensburg (12-14, 8-6 AMCC)

Key Moments:

* Third time was a charm for the Behrend Lions against the Bobcats
* After falling twice by three points or less in the regular season, Behrend posted a 13-point victory to advance to the AMCC semifinals
* The two teams met three days ago for the regular-season finale in the Junker Center
* The Lions played all 16 players on Saturday and the only players who did not score were DiRienzo and Mason Blankenberg (Ontario, NY/Wayne)
* Tonight the duo combined for 49 points, getting 14 from Blankenberg
* Matt Niland (Erie, PA/Fairview) added 12 points on 3-for-5 shooting and going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe
* As a team, the Lions shot 86.7 percent from the free-throw line (13-for-15) and 48.3 percent from the field
* DiRienzo also drained a career-high six three pointers and RJ Marsh (State College, PA/Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy) pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds to go with eight points, three assists and two steals
* DiRienzo tallied 11 points in the first half and exploded for 24 in the second half to spark the comeback from a three-point halftime deficit

Up Next:

* The Lions return to action on Friday against No. 1 La Roche in the AMCC semifinals. Game time is 12 p.m.