PSU-Behrend Advances to Quarterfinals
Justin Jarrett
BOX SCORE | TOURNAMENT PAGE
By Justin Jarrett
ERIE, Pa. - Penn State Behrend heated up in the second half and pulled away for a 78-57 win over visiting Alfred University in the first round of the ECAC Division III Men's Basketball Championship on Wednesday at the Junker Center.
Dan Wanker posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead four players in double figures for the Lions (21-7), who advance to face Wilkes University in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. Friday.
Mike Fischer collected 16 points and eight rebounds, Justin Gorny added 16 points, and Andy Niland scored 15 points and dished out six assists for Penn State Behrend.
Dom Lamorta and Nick Schmidt each scored 11 points, and Scotty Stopera and Dalton Cousin added 10 apiece for the Saxons (18-9), who made three of their first four 3-point attempts to grab an early four-point lead before finishing 8-of-32 from behind the arc.
Alfred took its last lead at 23-21 after Jeremiah Zitz's 3-pointer with 10:57 left in the half, but the Saxons went more than 5 1/2 minutes before their next field goal and Niland's three-point play capped an 8-0 run that put the Lions up 29-23.
The Saxons scored the first basket of the second half to get within two but missed their next nine shots before Stopera's 3-pointer ended another drought of more than 5 1/2 minutes and trimmed the deficit to 49-42.
Wanker's put-back pushed the lead to 54-43 with 10:18 left, and the margin didn't drop below double digits the rest of the way. Wanker had just five points and five rebounds at halftime before taking over after the break and helping the Lions dominate the boards.
Lamorta scored nine of his 11 points in the first half and was 1-for-4 from the field after halftime. Alfred's Sage Brown pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds but was limited to one point after the break to finish with seven.
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