Behrend Earns Two Seed in AMCC Tournament with Big Home Win
The
Penn State Behrend men's basketball team secured the #2 seed for the AMCC
tournament with a gutty 73-66 win over visiting Pitt-Bradford in front of
1,192 fans on Saturday, February 21. Before the game seniors Tom
Newman (Girard/Northwestern) and Drew
Seker (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) were honored for their outstanding
careers at Behrend and each would play key roles in the victory.
Pitt-Bradford controlled the first half, knocking down four three-point
shots and holding the blue and white to just 35% shooting from the floor.
The visiting Panthers, who were playing for the #1 seed would lead by as
much as 11 and finished the first twenty minutes of play with a 35-26
advantage.
Pitt-Bradford held a 44-36 advantage with 13:36 to play before Behrend went
on a 12-3 run and took the lead for the first time as Seker knocked down a
three to put Behrend on top 48-47 with just under eight minutes to play.
The Panthers would quickly tie the game before
Adam Kaiser (Erie/Cathedral Prep) connected on a long-range jumper of
his own to give the blue and white a 51-48 lead with seven minutes
remaining.
The two teams battled back-and-forth for the next several minutes before
Bradford evened the score at 60-60 on a bucket by Zach Moore and went ahead
on a free throw by Sam Moore. Behrend's Chris Saltzman
(Jefferson Hills/Central Catholic) worked hard for an inside bucket to
regain the lead at 62-61 with 1:55 to play and freshman Steve Piotrowicz
(Erie/Cathedral Prep) scored on an athletic reverse-layup to put the blue
and white up 64-61 with 59 seconds remaining. The men then hit 9-of-10
from the line in the last minute to clinch the win and first-round bye for
the AMCC Tournament.
Saltzman finished with 16 points, Kaiser had 12, and Newman added 11 as
Behrend improved to 17-8 overall and 13-5 in AMCC play. Pitt-Bradford
was led by Dan Heisley's 19 points and falls to 15-10 and 13-5.
Behrend earns the #2 seed for the AMCC tournament on tiebreakers and
advances to Friday's semifinal round hosted by Medaille. Behrend will
play an 8:00 p.m. game against the winner of Tuesday's first round game
between #3 Pitt-Bradford and #6 La Roche.