Behrend Lions Tame Wolverines and Advance in ECAC Tournament
The
Penn State Behrend men's basketball team dropped Wesley (DE) 68-60 in the
ECAC Southern Region Tournament first-round on Wednesday, March 1.
Behrend has posted a stellar 13-2 mark on their home floor this season
and advances to Friday night's semi-finals in La Plume, Pennsylvania.
Behrend (20-7) raced out to a 38-30 halftime lead behind 17 first-half
points from 6-7 sophomore Kevin Buczynski (Erie/Villa Maria). Buczynski, the
AMCC Player of the Year, had his way on the interior connecting on
seven-of-eight from the floor and made three free-throws in eighteen minutes
of work. Tom Newman (Girard/Northwestern) added eight first-half points
including a pivotal steal and lay-up with only 24 seconds remaining in the
half to send the Behrend Lions into the break with the eight-point
advantage.
The two squads played to a 30-30 tie in the second frame with rebounding and
free-throws proving to be the difference for Behrend. David Gahan
(Erie/East) hauled down a game-high 14 rebounds, while Buczynski added 10 as
the blue and white out boarded the Wolverines by a dozen. Also Behrend hit
18 of 22 from the charity-stripe led by Drew Seeker (Ellicott City,
MD/Centennial) who hit eight of nine. Wesley was led offensively by Rashawn
Johnson with sixteen points on six-of-seventeen from the floor and Greg
Cooke added 11 as the Wolverines finish the year at 16-12.
"We are excited to get the win and advance," said Behrend head coach Dave Niland. "It was key that we made our free-throws down the stretch. Buczynski played exceptionally well and Gahan did a great job on boards." Buczynski led all scorers with 24 points.
Behrend advances to the semifinals on Friday, March 3rd at
Keystone College. The host team and #1 seed Keystone College (22-5) will
face the winner of the #4 DeSales (16-9)
vs. #5 Albright (16-9) game while in the other semifinal, Penn State Behrend
will battle #2 Pitt-Greensburg (16-9) . The
semifinal winners will meet on Saturday, March 4th at Keystone for the ECAC
Division III Men’s Southern Basketball Championship.
Earlier this season
Behrend and Wesley met on November 19 at the
Junker Center when the Behrend Lions pulled out a 77-75 victory in the first
day of the Behrend Tip-Off Tournament.
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