Men’s Basketball Set To Honor Seniors vs. Pitt-Bradford

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team continues its four-game homestand with a matchup against Pitt-Bradford on Saturday, Feb. 3. The men's game will follow the women's game, which begins at 2 p.m. Prior to the game, Stefan Milinkovic (Fairport, NY/Fairport), RJ Marsh (State College, PA/Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy), Owen Flisnik (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland), and Matt Niland (Erie, PA/Fairview) will be recognized in a senior ceremony.

Coverage:

Video | Live Stats | Game Notes

Behrend News & Notes:

* Behrend fell to top-ranked La Roche, 71-69, in an overtime thriller Wednesday night to snap the Lions six-game winning streak
* Mason Blankenberg (Ontario, NY/Wayne) led all scorers with a career-high 27 points on 12-21 shooting in a career-best 39 minutes. He also pulled down six rebounds
* Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) tallied his 18th double-digit scoring game of the season and 10th contest with 20 or more points, finishing with 25 points to go along with six rebounds
* On the glass, Marsh grabbed seven rebounds, while Matthew McDonough (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) registered five rebounds and four assists. Marsh also recorded three steals on the defensive end
* DiRienzo leads the AMCC with 20.3 points per game, while Marsh pulls down a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game to rank 10^th in the conference
* McDonough sits fourth in the AMCC with a 43.2 three-point percentage
* As a team, the Lions are first in the conference in field-goal percentage (46.6), three-point percentage (35.8), and free-throw percentage (75.8)

Meet the Opposition:

* Pitt-Bradford enters Saturday's contest with an 11-9 overall record and a 7-6 record in AMCC play, dropping its last game at Hilbert (70-56)
* Junior guard Jamarion Butler leads the Panthers and is tied for third in the conference with 18.6 points per game. Butler also ranks third in the AMCC with 2.4 steals per game and pulls down a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game
* Jesse Laster (11.3 ppg), Coby Farley (11.2 ppg), and Gus Napoleon (10.8 ppg) all average double-figures, while Farley is second in the AMCC in three-point percentage (47.3) right behind teammate Trey Davis (47.9)
* The Panthers were tabbed to finish fifth in the 2023-24 AMCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
* Napoleon was selected as a Preseason Player to Watch
* Head coach Jesse DeLoof is in his fourth season as the leader of the men's basketball program

Series History:

* Behrend leads the all-time series 38-7, dating back to the 2002-03 season
* The Lions have won six of the last seven matchups against the Panthers; however, Pitt-Bradford was victorious in the last head-to-head on January 3^rd (79-64)