Behrend Drops Allegheny Gators 64-48 in Junker
Wednesday Night
The
Behrend men's basketball team entered Wednesday night's home game against
the Allegheny Gators looking to create some offensive rhythm after a rough
shooting win last Saturday against Fredonia State. Behrend managed its way
to a 16-point, 64-48 win after a strong shooting performance in the second
twenty minutes.
The Behrend Lions took control early in the first-half through senior center Kevin Buczynski (Erie/Villa) who scored six of Behrend's first nine points to provide a 9-2 advantage. The lead expanded to 19-7 after Dan Zeigler (Johnsonburg/ Johnsonburg) made a free-throw to create a 12 point gap at the 10:32 mark. Allegheny then hit a pair of threes to cut into the lead, but headed to the break down 27-20.
Behrend (8-3) was paced by Buczynski's eight points, while junior Tom Newman (Girard/Northwestern) added five points and four rebounds during the first twenty.
The second half was back and forth early with Allegheny scoring the first five points to get within two. However, Buczynski proved too much as he connected for 16 second half points, while point guard Justin Kovac (Venetia/Peters Township) posted eleven. Behrend managed to shoot 54% from the floor and 50% from three-point land to outscore the Gators 37-28 over the final twenty minutes to register the victory.
Buczynski led the
scoring with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Newman chipped in 13 points
and five rebounds.
Allegheny (7-5) was led by Charlie Jaicks 16
markers, and Craig Devinney and George Raftis had 12 apiece. Buczynski now
has accumulated 1,382 career points and ranks fourth on the all-time charts.
Byron Thorne scored 1,386, Rick Demski totaled 1,466, and Behrend's all-time
scoring king is James Curren with 1,726.
Next up for the blue and white is a home conference game against Penn State
Altoona on Saturday, January 12 at 4:00 p.m. Behrend is 2-2 in league play
and has posted an impressive 13-1 mark against Altoona during the past 14
games. Altoona enters the contest with a 3-1 mark in the AMCC and a 6-5
overall record.