The AMCC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament started out with a pair of upsets, as #5 Penn State Behrend earned the upset road victory over #4 Pitt-Greensburg (76-63), while #6 Pitt-Bradford upended #3 Hilbert College 80-79 on the Hawks' home court.
#5 Penn State Behrend d. #4 Pitt-Greensburg, 76-63
Penn State Behrend junior guard Tommy DiRienzo dropped a career-high 35 points and 10 rebounds to help the No. 5 Penn State Behrend men's basketball team defeat No. 4 Pitt-Greensburg in the first round of the AMCC Tournament on Tuesday night.
The Behrend Lions dropped their first two games against the Bobcats this season, before picking up the big win Tuesday evening. After falling twice by three points or less in the regular season, Behrend posted a 13-point victory to advance to the AMCC semifinals. The two teams met three days ago for the regular-season finale in the Junker Center. The Lions played all 16 players on Saturday and the only players who did not score were DiRienzo and Mason Blankenberg. Tonight the duo combined for 49 points, getting 14 from Blankenberg. Matt Niland added 12 points on 3-for-5 shooting and going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. As a team, the Lions shot 86.7 percent from the free-throw line (13-for-15) and 48.3 percent from the field. DiRienzo also drained a career-high six three pointers and RJ Marsh pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds to go with eight points, three assists and two steals. DiRienzo tallied 11 points in the first half and exploded for 24 in the second half to spark the comeback from a three-point halftime deficit
The Lions return to action on Friday against No. 1 La Roche in the AMCC semifinals. Game time is 12 p.m. at La Roche's Kerr Fitness Center.
#6 Pitt-Bradford d. #3 Hilbert, 80-79
The 6th-seeded Pitt-Bradford men's basketball team kept their season alive on Tuesday night as they upset #3 Hilbert on the road 80-79. The Panthers used a huge night from senior Nathan Schneider, who scored 38 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and dished out nine assists.
The Panthers jumped out to a strong start, as they scored on their first three possessions. Schneider started the game with a driving layup and after Lennon Lindholm made a midrange jumper in the lane Jeremy Rodriguez hit a three from the wing to put the Panthers up 7-2 after 90 seconds. The Hawks quickly responded, scoring 8 of the next 10 points to take a 10-9 lead. The teams exchanged the lead several times throughout the first half. Schneider made four straight free throws to tie the game at 36 before the hosts hit a last-second three to send the game to the break with the Panthers trailing 39-36.
Pitt-Bradford was slow out of the gate in the second half as the Hawks were able to build an 11-point lead in just over four minutes of action. The Panthers began their comeback at the 12-minute mark as Schneider hit two more free throws to start a Panther rally. After a pair of unanswered Hilbert layups extended the lead back to seven, Schneider made threes on back-to-back possessions and converted two more from the Line to give the Panthers their first lead of the half at 62-61. Both teams battled for the next few minutes before Hilbert was able to retake the lead and go ahead by five with three minutes remaining. Rodriguez was able to get the Panthers back in the game with an old-fashioned three-point play and Mason tied things up at 72 with a pair of clutch free throws with 2:20 to go.
Over the last two minutes, Schneider took over, scoring the Panthers' last eight points of the game. He drove to the basket for a layup to put Pitt-Bradford ahead and then after a momentum-swinging slam dunk on the other end, converted a clutch three-point play to restore the lead. In the final minute, he helped put the game away, grabbing a pair of defensive rebounds and making 3-of-4 from the line to put the game away.
Schneider led all players in the game with 38 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists. He played all 40 minutes, made 9-for-13 from the field, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and 17-of-18 from the line. Lindholm and Rodriguez each finished with nine points, while Gavyn Mason scored six and collected eight rebounds.
The Panthers will advance to the semifinals of the AMCC tournament. They will take on #2 seeded Penn State-Altoona in the second game of the semifinal doubleheader on Friday at approximately 2:30 p.m. The games will be hosted in Pittsburgh by top-seeded LaRoche.