Penn State Behrend Men's Basketball Stunned By Franciscan In Junker Center

The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team carried an unbeaten home mark into Monday night's game versus the visiting Franciscan Barons but suffered its first home defeat by a score of 67-64 on January 18 in front of 287 fans in the Junker Center.  The blue and white could not overcome the red-hot 3-point shooting by the Barons who made ten second-half baskets from long range to earn the victory. 

Behrend (10-4, 7-3) started the game off looking crisp, sprinting to a quick 8-0 advantage before working the score to 19-9 by pounding the ball inside with Adam Potter (Pittsburgh/Mt. Lebanon) and Nick Colella (Newcastle/Newcastle).  The blue and white maintained a comfortable lead by holding Franciscan to 27% shooting from the floor in the first half and led 29-19 at the break. 

Franciscan (3-11, 2-8) started to heat up in the second half, scoring on seven of its first eight possessions to cut the Behrend lead to 37-36 with 14:08 to play.  The Behrend Lions then went back to work to build an 11-point lead at 52-41 with 9:28 remaining.  From that point Franciscan began chipping away and trailed by three points at 58-55 after knocking down one of its ten made three-point baskets in the second half.  Behrend led by four with 52 seconds to play but another three-pointer from Franciscan cut it to 63-62 with 44 seconds left.  Justin Kovac (Venetia/Peters Township) made one of two free throws to put Behrend ahead 64-62 with 27 seconds to go, but Franciscan would answer as Josh Ducoulombier nailed a three to put his team ahead for the first time with 14 seconds to play at 65-64.  Behrend seemed to answer with a key layup by Kovac but basket interference was called on Behrend to void the basket.  Franciscan then made two free throws and a Behrend desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer would not go down as the blue and white dropped the conference game 67-64.

Potter finished with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Colella added 15 points and Adam Kaiser (Erie/Cathedral Prep) had ten.  Franciscan made 10-of-15 3-point shots in the second half and 14 for the game, led by Matt Leidel who scored 16 points including four bucket from long range.  

Behrend men's basketball plays its next two games on the road.  First up on Saturday, January 23 the blue and white hit the road to face Mt. Aloysius in a conference game at 3:00 p.m., while on January 27 Behrend travels to D'Youville for an 8:00 p.m. showdown.