Men’s basketball wins 2 conference games

It was a week of conference dominance for the men’s basketball team. They defeated Pitt-Bradford 60-48 on Wednesday Jan. 11. They also took down Franciscan on Saturday Jan. 14, 66-35. The team is currently 7-8 overall with six of their wins coming from their own conference. 

Against Pitt-Bradford, the Lions owned the scoreboard all night. 

They started off strong ending the first half 33-22. The Panthers were not about to give up though. They came back fighting in the second half and scored 26 points to Behrend’s 27. The Lions still owned the Panthers in all of the statistics including the most important: the scoreboard. 

Freshman guard Nick DeLisio led the team with 17 points. Junior center Russ Conley added 10 points and led the Lions in rebounds with nine. 

Behrend went into Saturday’s game with a lot of confidence. Coming off of a big win and knowing about Franciscan’s struggle, they were ready to play. Franciscan went into the game still looking for their first win and the Lions were not about to let them take it. 

The Lions played tough right from the start. Just seven minutes into the game, Behrend was already up 18-5.

They continued to battle through the game ending the first half 37-16. The team came back out for the second half pumped up, but the Barons weren’t giving up yet. They had a tough defense and tried to double-team any Lion with the ball. The Lions had a great passing game to keep making shots and secure the win. 

With about five minutes left, the Lions had a controlling lead. Coach Niland wanted to ensure that all of his players could see  playing time. The young guys didn’t disappoint. Freshman guard Bobby Zajkowski hit the floor ready to play and hit two three-pointers right off the bat. At that point, the Lions on the bench weren’t so worried about the win as they were about supporting their teammates. With every basket, they cheered as if they were battling back from a deficit. 

Conley led the team with 12 points. Freshman guard Evan Eaton led in rebounds with seven. Sophomore center Shane Skelly, freshman guard Chris Rader and Eaton all contributed nine points for the win. 

These young players have had a huge influence and not just in the game against Franciscan. They have two freshmen in the starting line-up, DeLisio and Eaton, but they aren’t the only new guys making a difference. 

“Every player on our team has something to offer whether they play all the time or work to make everyone else better in practice,” Skelly said. “Each player makes us who we are as a team.”

This team has made serious improvements since the beginning of the season. This is a very young team and everything is going the way they want it to. It took a little bit of time but every player is starting to mesh and it has improved the team’s overall play. Experience is the number one factor to their success according to Skelly. 

“We have a lot of young guys on the team this year and over break they figured out what it takes to win a college basketball game,” he said. 

Behrend will face conference rival Medaille on Thursday, Jan. 19. These two teams met earlier in the season in the Junker Center and the Lions fell to the Mavericks 61-55. It was a tough match-up and both teams battled throughout all 40 minutes. This game will be no different as the Lions fight to a .500 record. 

“Everyone knows a win on Thursday would really push us forward in the league standings,” said Skelly. “We are going to take every drill very seriously.”