Niland Scores 1,000th; Men's Basketball Falls to La Roche

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The La Roche men's basketball team handed Penn State Behrend its first loss of the season with a 74-64 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) victory on Wednesday night at the Kerr Fitness Center.

Score: La Roche 74, Penn State Behrend 64

Records: La Roche (2-1, 1-0 AMCC), Penn State Behrend (3-1, 0-1 AMCC)

Key Moments:

* La Roche scored 21 second-chance points and forced 17 Behrend turnovers to make the difference
* The Redhawks held a 30-20 advantage on the boards, while the Lions shot a season-best 57.5 percent from the floor
* Zach Gould went 2-for-3 from behind the arc in a stretch of 45 seconds to give the La Roche their largest lead at 58-45 lead in the second half with 11 minutes remaining
* Behrend closed the gap by two points after an Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) with 4:09 on the clock at 64-62
* The Redhawks broke open a two-point game by going 3-for-3 in three straight possessions, while the Lions went 0-2 from the field to take a 70-62 lead with a two minutes left to play
* Behrend had four players in double-figure scoring, led by Mike Fischer (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny) and his 14 points
* Fischer and Malike Brinson (Erie, PA/Central Tech) combined for 20 points in the first half and then were held to a combined four points in the second
* The Lions went 12-for-20 from the field for 60 percent shooting in the first half for a 39-34 lead
* Behrend got almost a third of its points from the charity stripe in the first half, going 11-for-15

Noteworthy:

* Niland became the 19^th player in Behrend program history to reach 1,000 career points. Niland drained a layup at the 7:45 mark of the second half to reach the milestone. The senior guard finished with 12 points.

Up Next:

* The Lions return to action on Saturday against Pitt-Bradford in the Junker Center. Game time is 4 p.m.