Behrend Men Maul the Wolverines by 30 to Move on in the ECAC Tournament
Top-seeded Behrend
men's basketball cruised past the #8 Grove City Wolverines 76-46 Wednesday night,
February 28 in the first-round of the ECAC tournament. The men improve to 20-7 overall on
the season, while Grove City ends their season at 16-13.
Behrend started off hot, hitting their first six shots and jumping out to an 11-0 lead. Grove City would cut the lead to five at 15-10 but could get no closer as Behrend stretched the lead back to double digits. Dan Zeigler (Johnsonburg/Johnsonburg) would get a layup off an inbounds pass at the buzzer to put the blue and white up 14, 38-24 at the break. Zeigler was the only player to head into the half in double digits and led all scorers with 13 points. The men shot 55% from the floor on the half while holding the Wolverines to just 34%.
Behrend continued to pour it on in the second half, the men held a 17 point lead through much of the second half before blowing the game wide open with 10 minutes remaining. Behrend scored 15 unanswered points, including seven straight by Justin Kovac (Venetia/Peters Township). The men would cruise the rest of the way, going on to win by 30.
Shooting guard Drew Seker (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) led all scorers with 17 points. Both Kovac and Zeigler would end with 15 a piece, with Kovac adding four assists and Zeigler grabbing five boards and two blocks. The men finished the game shooting an impressive 53% from the floor.
The win puts Behrend in the ECAC semifinals to face Juniata on Friday, March 2. The tournament will take place at DeSales University with Behrend playing at 8:00 p.m.