Behrend Men Come up Short Against DeSales in ECAC Championship
Men's basketball concluded their season on Saturday, March 3 when they lost to Desales University 72-63 in the championship game of the ECAC South Tournament. The men were the top seed in the tournament and beat #8 Grove City and #4 Juniata in earlier rounds of the tournament before falling to #2 DeSales. The men finish up the season at 21-8.
DeSales set the pace of the game and led most of the way. The Bulldogs shot an impressive 56.5% from the field in the game, going 13-23 in both the first and second half. The men were able to hang around shooting 40% in the first half and went into the break down five. Consistent shooting from beyond the arc and at the line from DeSales was enough to overpower Behrend as the five point lead was extended with DeSales outscoring Behrend in the second half 40-36.
The men were led by Dan Zeigler (Johnsonburg/Johnsonburg) who had a huge day of the bench with 19 points and six boards. Sophomore shooting guard Tom Newman (Girard/Northwestern) went 4-7 from beyond the arc to finish with 12 points and two assists. DeSales was led by Steve Kriczky who had 18. Both Ed Lapinski and Phil Stricker finished with 17.