First Half Surge Pushes Lions Past Franciscan

ERIE, Pa. – Casey Courneen (Sewickley, PA/Quaker Valley) scored a career-high 21 points and the Penn State Behrend men's basketball team used a late first half run to win their fifth in a row, 72-54, over Franciscan on Saturday afternoon at the Junker Center.

Leading by just five with 4:52 remaining in the opening period, the Lions (10-2, 4-1 AMCC) went on a 12-2 spurt to close the half and open up a 15 point advantage at the break. Ten of those 12 points were scored by Courneen, who finished 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-7 from three point range.

Playing in their first home game since December 14, Behrend was again dominant underneath as their bigs were able to establish themselves in a big way. Shane Skelly (Westlake, OH/Westlake) scored 10 points, Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) added six, and Mike Knoll (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) scored four with eight rebounds.

Indeed that was not the extent of it, as Keith Wallace's (Erie, PA/Central Tech) ability to penetrate and score in the lane proved invaluable. The junior finished with 15 points and six rebounds. In all, Behrend outscored Franciscan 48-20 in the painted area.

After halftime, Wes Davic (Grafton, OH/Midview) helped assure that the Barons would not make a run. The freshman, who also grabbed six rebounds, scored seven of his nine points in the second half.

Chris Dudzenski (Latrobe, PA/Latrobe) added five points with four boards and Nick Delisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) dished out a career-high seven assists.

Timmy Schenk led Franciscan with 14 points.

Behrend will play for the second time in as many days when they host Penn State Altoona tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Junker Center.