Lions, Express Meet for Second Time In Program History
For the second time in program history, the Penn State Behrend men's basketball team welcomes Wells to the Junker Center on Monday, Feb. 5.
ERIE, Pa. – For the second time in program history, the Penn State Behrend men's basketball team welcomes Wells to the Junker Center on Monday, Feb. 5. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., following the women's game that begins at 5:00 p.m. This game was originally scheduled for January 13th, but was postponed due to inclement weather.
Coverage:
Live Stats | Video
Behrend News & Notes:
* Behrend earned a hard-fought victory over Pitt-Bradford Saturday in the Junker Center (77-59)
* Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) led Behrend with 21 points on 8-16 shooting from the field and 4-4 from the free-throw line. This marks DiRienzo's 19th double-digit scoring game of the season and 11th contest with 20 or more points
* Off the bench, Mason Blankenberg (Ontario, NY/Wayne) added 16 points and four rebounds, while Shawn Mason (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) chipped in nine points
* Senior RJ Marsh (State College, PA/Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy) filled up the stat sheet for the Lions, finishing with his second double-double of the year
* Marsh tallied 12 points, a game-high 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks
* As a team, Behrend scored 19 points off 12 Pitt-Bradford turnovers and outscored the Panthers in the paint (33-28) and off the bench (52-13)
* DiRienzo leads the AMCC with 20.4 points per game, while Marsh pulls down a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game to rank ninth in the conference
* Matthew McDonough (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) sits fifth in the conference in three-point percentage (42.4), while Blankenberg is currently fifth in field-goal percentage (52.6)
* The Lions are first in the conference in field-goal percentage (46.7), three-point percentage (35.7), and free-throw percentage (76.2)
Meet the Opposition:
* Wells holds an overall record of 4-16 and a conference record of 3-10, falling to Pitt-Greensburg on Saturday (69-57)
* Senior guard Terrance Clayton-Murphy leads the Express and is second in the AMCC with 19.1 points per game, while Ransel Rodriguez averages 13.0 points per game
* Billy McCrae grabs a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game, while Rodriguez dishes 5.3 assists per game
* In their inaugural season in the AMCC, the Express were selected to finish sixth in the 2023-24 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
* Clayton-Murphy and McCrae were named AMCC Preseason Players to Watch
* Head coach Joe Wojtylko is in his 16th season at the helm of the men's basketball program
Series History:
* This is the second matchup in school history between these two programs
* Behrend was victorious in its first ever matchup with Wells by a score of 77-43 to begin the 2012-13 season
