Behrend ousts Lion men in AMCC semifinals
2.29.08
(ERIE, PA:) Host and top seed Penn State Behrend outscored
visiting Penn State Altoona 40-26 in the second half to claim a 62-42 victory in
the semifinals of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference playoffs Friday.
Altoona, seeded fourth, concluded its season at 14-13 overall and finished with
its first winning record in program history. Behrend improved to 22-4 and
advanced to play the winner of the Lake Erie/Medaille game for the conference
championship on Saturday.
The Lions from Erie held a slim 22-16 advantage at intermission
after both squads made just six first half field goals. Behrend led by
nine in the closing minutes of the period before Altoona guard Curtis Geiger
(Pottstown, PA/Pottsgrove) canned a trey to stop a 5-0 run.
Penn State Altoona suffered through a disastrous five minute
offensive drought early in the second half as Behrend capitalized with a 9-0
spurt to increase its lead to 38-22. Senior guard Mike Dancer
(Montgomeryville, PA/North Penn) brought the visiting Lions to within eight
(40-32) with 8:34 remaining, but Behrend scored 12 unanswered points to up the
advantage to 20 and put the game out of reach.
All-AMCC forward Kevin Buczynski netted a game-high 24 points,
grabbed eight rebounds, and made 10-13 free throws for Behrend, which shot 68.4%
(13-19) from the field in the second half. Teammates Adam Keiser and Tom
Newman each added 11 and combined for six of the squad's seven 3-pointers.
Altoona shot 45.5% (10-22) from the floor in half number two but
were out-rebounded 31-22 and outscored 17-4 at the charity stripe on the night.
Dancer, who made 3-6 from long distance, finished in double figures for Altoona
with 11. No other Lion player tallied more than six points.
After a Zach Spitz (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) jumper
at the 10:39 mark of the opening period cut the Altoona deficit to 11-10,
Behrend used three Buczynski foul shots and a Kaiser 3-pointer to push the lead
to seven. Altoona shot 6-16 from downtown (37.5%) and just 36.4% on the
evening.
The 16 first half points for Altoona was a season low.
Sophomore Sean Stewart (West Chester, PA/Unionville) started for injured Lion
Kirk Peters (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township), who suffered an ankle injury
last Saturday against Mount Aloysius and played just six minutes.
Friday's game marked the second postseason match-up and 20th
all-time meeting between the Penn State campuses. Behrend holds a 19-1
series lead over Altoona with one of those victories (81-80 OT) coming in the
2001 AMCC quarterfinals.
CONTACT: Penn
State Altoona Sports Information
Steve Crider -- SID
814-949-5173
sac310@psu.edu
