Lions Handle Celtics, 92-76

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team was victorious over Carlow, 92-76, Monday afternoon in the Junker Center.

Score: Penn State Behrend 92, Carlow 76
Records: Penn State Behrend (9-7­, 4-3 AMCC), Carlow (3-12, 2-5 AMCC)

Key Moments:

* The Celtics jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first minute of the contest
* Behrend made the next two baskets and knotted the score at five apiece
* The Lions secured a 23-21 advantage with 11 minutes left in the first half and would never look back
* In the next five minutes, Behrend went on a 13-5 run to take a 10-point lead (36-26) with 5:35 remaining in the half
* A Matthew McDonough (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) three-pointer gave the Lions their largest lead (43-31) of the first 20 minutes and the team would head into the locker room with a 48-39 advantage
* McDonough tallied 14 first half points for Behrend, while Carlow received 13 points from Adnan Sbai
* The Lions maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second half, grabbing their largest lead of 18 (70-52) during Monday's contest with 11:03 on the clock
* However, a 10-2 run cut the Celtics deficit to 10 (72-62) with seven minutes remaining to force a Behrend timeout
* This is as close as Carlow would get as the Lions continued to make shots en route to their fourth conference win and ninth overall victory of the season
* Three Behrend players finished in double-figures on Monday, led by Tommy DiRienzo's (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) game-high 27 points and eight rebounds on 8-for-10 shooting from the field and 11-for-13 from the free throw line
* Freshman Nate Edwards (Girard, PA/Girard) registered a career-high 16 points and five rebounds, while McDonough (23 points) was the other Lion to garner double-digit points
* Off the bench, Michael Sopko (New Castle, PA/Neshannock) delivered nine points and six rebounds for Behrend
* Mason Blankenberg (Ontario, NY/Wayne) dished out a career-best seven assists to go along with three rebounds
* This marks the seventh contest this season that DiRienzo has amassed 20 or more points, while McDonough has reached this feat three times so far this year
* Five Celtics recorded double-figures on Monday: Sbai (17 points), Nehemiah Brazil (15 points), Riley Comforti (12 points), Devin Lewis (11 points), Byron Gaskins (10 points). Brazil collected a team-high six rebounds
* As a team, Behrend shot 33-for-53 (62.3 percent) from the field and 18-for-21 (85.7 percent) from the charity stripe
* The Lions outscored the Celtics in the paint (50-30), off the bench (22-19), off turnovers (14-13), and pulled down seven more rebounds (30-23)

Up Next:

* Behrend begins three games on the road, starting with a contest at Alfred State on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.