Lions Fall to Medaille in AMCC Championship

BUFFALO, NY – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team fell to Medaille 65-52 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) championship game on Saturday afternoon.

The Mavericks (25-2) clamped down defensively, limiting the Lions (16-11) offense to single chances by dominating the boards 33-22.

Early in the opening stanza, neither team was able to gain much of an advantage.  Russ Conley (Transfer, PA/Reynolds) got Behrend going with four quick points.  The Lions were able to gain some momentum after taking a 9-5 lead but could not capitalize on missed shots by the Mavericks

After taking a 14-12 lead, the Behrend offense was shut down for over three minutes with Medaille scoring eight straight.  After, Tyler Stevens connected on a three; the Mavericks were up by 12 and feeding off the highly energized crowd.  Over the next four minutes though, Behrend was able to cut the deficit in half going into the break.

With the second half underway, Medaille continued to push their lead.  The Lions came back twice by threes from Nick Thorsen (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) and Conley but could not manage to hold the edge for long.

From the halfway point of the second 20 minutes on, the Mavericks held at least a seven point lead.  Just when it looked like Behrend might make a late push, Medaille went on a 7-0 run over a three-minute span to secure the victory.

Conley led all scorers with 21.  Thorsen finished with two threes and five assists.

The Lions will now wait for an ECAC bid to be announced on Monday.