Men's Basketball Picks Up Win Over Thiel

GREENVILLE, Pa – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team took down Thiel 57-56 to pick up their first road game of the season on Monday evening.

In an evenly fought game between both teams, the Lions (2-0) were able to hold off the Tomcats (2-1) throughout the second half to end up their second win of the season.

Justin Gorny (South Park, PA/South Park) led the way for Behrend with 11 points and 11 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season. Dan Wanker (Pittsburgh, PA/South Park) knocked down a team-high 13 points while also pulling down eight rebounds.

Thiel was led by two starters who scored in double-digits to keep them within striking distance throughout the contest. Tyreik Burton led the Tomcats' offense with a game-high 16 points while Josh Lumbus scored 11 points and eight rebounds.

Thiel and Behrend each exchanged the lead twice through the first 12 minutes of action. Both teams were able to string together an 8-0 run right after one another to keep the score at an even 20-all with 4:42 remaining in the half. A few late three-pointers by Derrick Clark (Erie, PA/Central Tech) and Kyle Reese (Allison Park, PA/Hampton) followed by an Alex Choloh three-pointer brought the score to 29-26 at halftime, in favor of Behrend.

The Lions opened up the second on a 9-4 run coming off a few layups from Wanker, Malike Brinson (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy), and Mike Fischer (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny). At the 7:39 mark, Burton brought the game within two points after scoring six straight points for the Tomcats. For the remaining 5:13 of the game, points were exchanged back and forth by both teams.

As the time was winding down, a couple Behrend layups and a few made free-throws sealed the game for the Lions at 57-53. Daquan Simmons drained a three-pointer as time expired to finalize the score at 57-56.

The Lions will face off against Mount Union on Tuesday night. Game time is set for 7 p.m.