Behrend Earns Two Seed in AMCC Tournament with Big Home Win

The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team secured the #2 seed for the AMCC tournament with a gutty 73-66 win over visiting Pitt-Bradford in front of 1,192 fans on Saturday, February 21.  Before the game seniors Tom Newman (Girard/Northwestern) and Drew Seker (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) were honored for their outstanding careers at Behrend and each would play key roles in the victory.

Pitt-Bradford controlled the first half, knocking down four three-point shots and holding the blue and white to just 35% shooting from the floor.  The visiting Panthers, who were playing for the #1 seed would lead by as much as 11 and finished the first twenty minutes of play with a 35-26 advantage.

Pitt-Bradford held a 44-36 advantage with 13:36 to play before Behrend went on a 12-3 run and took the lead for the first time as Seker knocked down a three to put Behrend on top 48-47 with just under eight minutes to play.  The Panthers would quickly tie the game before Adam Kaiser (Erie/Cathedral Prep) connected on a long-range jumper of his own to give the blue and white a 51-48 lead with seven minutes remaining.

The two teams battled back-and-forth for the next several minutes before Bradford evened the score at 60-60 on a bucket by Zach Moore and went ahead on a free throw by Sam Moore.  Behrend's Chris Saltzman (Jefferson Hills/Central Catholic) worked hard for an inside bucket to regain the lead at 62-61 with 1:55 to play and freshman Steve Piotrowicz (Erie/Cathedral Prep) scored on an athletic reverse-layup to put the blue and white up 64-61 with 59 seconds remaining.  The men then hit 9-of-10 from the line in the last minute to clinch the win and first-round bye for the AMCC Tournament.

Saltzman finished with 16 points, Kaiser had 12, and Newman added 11 as Behrend improved to 17-8 overall and 13-5 in AMCC play.  Pitt-Bradford was led by Dan Heisley's 19 points and falls to 15-10 and 13-5.

Behrend earns the #2 seed for the AMCC tournament on tiebreakers and advances to Friday's semifinal round hosted by Medaille.  Behrend will play an 8:00 p.m. game against the winner of Tuesday's first round game between #3 Pitt-Bradford and #6 La Roche.