Page 12
The Behrend Beacon
Behrend wins AMCC, gets
home conn for playoffs
Number 30 David Hairston has become an outstanding supporting actor
in Behrend’s cast of talented players led by James Curren (not pictured).
Lions have one last shot
at AMCC
by Kevin Fiorenzo
staff writer
After an important conference victory against La
Roche and a tough defeat at the hands of Grove City,
the women’s basketball team now heads to Pitt-
Grecnsburg to play for the regular- season conference
title and home-field advantage in the AMCC tourna
ment.
On Saturday, the Lions played conference oppo
nent La Roche. In their first meeting the Behrend
squad won handily by a score of 48-36 and hoped to
SPORTS
regular-season title
have the same success this time. While the game was
closer than the previous contest, the Lions were in
control for much of the way and came out on top, 64-
59. Leading the way for Behrend was guard Carly
Cochran with 19 points, and forward Amber Krumpc,
who added 13 points. The win raised their record to
13-10 overall, and 9-2 in the AMCC, keeping them in
second place behind Pitt-Greensburg.
Coach Roz Fornari said that some of the keys to
the game were, “defensive hustle, our bench contrib
uting in key times during the game, and execution.”
Next up for the Lions was a home game Monday
Friday, February 21, 2003
by Zoe Rose
contributing writer
Unlike their Division I counterpart at
University Park, the Penn State Behrend
men’s basketball team is shining.
With two games left to go in the sea
son, a home match-up against Medaille
and a visit to Pitt-Greensburg, the Lions
have secured first place in the Allegh
eny Mountain Collegiate Conference.
With a bye in the first round of the Con
ference, Behrend will host the champi
onship weekend games.
La Roche has clinched the No. 2 posi
tion and will host seventh seeded Penn
State Altoona next Wednesday.
Claiming the No. 3 spot is Pitt-
Bradford, which will wait till after
Saturday’s games to know who their
number six opponent will be.
Last Saturday the Lions lost against
La Roche (75-63) and then moved on
Tuesday to snatch a win away from
Carnegie Mellon (63-57).
In a l-l week for Behrend, the Lions
started off with action at La Roche. In
what was only the second conference
loss for the Lions the entire season, jun
ior James Curren again posted double
digits, scoring 21 points, and seven re
bounds. Behrend stayed within strik
ing distance until the second half, with
assistance by senior point-guard Steve
Merrill and Casey Ponsoll, who had 10
points a piece. David Hairston followed
with nine points and nine rebounds.
Even with the free-throw shooting ad
vantage (66.7 percent), the Lions were
unable to grab the win being outscored
46-29 in the second half.
The Carnegie Mellon Tartan basket-
ball team watched two Behrend Lions
have stellar games lead the visitors to a
63-57 win in non-conference action.
Curren hit six of 12 field goals and six
of eight free throws for 18 points and
dominated the boards and grabbed a
game-high nine rebounds.
Tom Lulich joined in with 18 points
as well off of four of six shooting from
inside the perimeter and made eight of
11 free-throws.
The Tartans stayed in the game until
halftime with an even score of 27.
Carnegie Mellon barely out-shot the Li
ons from inside the arc with 41.7% over
Behrend’s 41.4 percent in second half ac
tion. It was a lop-sided game as the Tar
tans dominated three-pointers while the
Lions held them back by shooting 62.5%
from the line.
The Lions are now 16-7,9-2 for 2002-
2003. Curren has had an outstanding
year, averaging of 17.5 points per game.
He is 66.7 percent from three-point land
and averages 6.9 rebounds. Holding the
number two spot on the team is class
mate Ponsoll with 8.2 points per game
and hitting 29 of 34 free throws for
85.3%.
With an average of seeing 17.3 minutes
of action per game, Hairston has proved
to be a vital player with 44.3% field-goal
shooting and 4.7 rebounds.
Behrend hopes to keep winning before
heading into the AMCC. “The win
streak was fueled by pure desir,” said
Hairston. “Knowing what we needed to
do to accomplish our preseason goals of
winning the tournaments we played in,
with the AMCC regular season, with the
AMCC tournament, and go to the
NCAA’s, pushed us to be strong during
against out-of-conference opponent Grove City Col
lege. The game was tight throughout and the Behrend
squad went into the half with a 25-23 lead.
After the intermission, the game continued to be hotly
contested. Towards the end, though, Grove City be
gan to pull away and outscored Behrend 41-31 in the
second half. Thanks to their superior second half play,
Grove City got the win by a score 56-54. The Behrend
squad felt lack of execution at the end of the game that
did them in.
“We played well most of the game. It came down to
who made their shots at the end and they were able to
and we didn’t,” said Fomari.
The loss dropped their record to 13-11, but
didn’t affect their conference record. The Li
ons are now left with one final game against
Pitt-Greensburg.. The winner of the match up
will win the regular-season conference title and
earn the right to host the AMCC tournament,
which will be played from Feb 28-March 1. The
Lions go into the game as underdogs, but they
won their previous against them and are feeling
confident.
“Greensburg is a balanced scoring team,” said
Fomari. “They like to push the ball up the floor
and score in transition. They are not a great half
court team. The last game we made them play
in the half court and execute every time down
the floor. That will be the way we play them on
Saturday.”
Though a lot is riding on the game for both
teams, Fomari downplayed the importance of
home-court advantage.
“Home court advantage is an opportunity to
play in a familiar environment and in front of
family and friends. It certainly doesn’t dictate
the outcome of the game. It is a matter of who
comes to play on a particular day/night,” she
said.
The Behrend women have to win the game
against Pitt-Greensburg to get home-court ad
vantage, but they know what the keys to their
success are.
“We have a lot of individual ability. Our team
is young and continues to adjust to each other.
I think our biggest strength is our defense. We
play good defense and work hard at it every day.
We continue improving each game and prac-
Scott Soltis , Sports Editor
Lauren Packer ; Assistant Sports Editor
that streak. We now have to get that back
for the home stretch.”
Having already beating La Roche,
Pitt-Bradford, and Pitt-Greensburg, the
Lions know that they’re still not neces
sarily out of danger.
The playoff picture may be clear, but
Behrend still needs to focus on finish
ing out the regular season strong. Then
and only then, will they know that they
have the absolute advantage heading into
the AMCCs, and hopefully securing the
championship.
Last year, the Lions headed into the
tournament in roughly the same position
as they are in now, but ended up watch
ing Pitt-Bradford obtain the title.
The Lions host Medaille on Thursday
then travel to face their last opponent of
the season on Saturday against Pitt-
Greensburg. Penn State Behrend is
readyfor its home stretch to the AMCCs.
Housing
and
Food Service
Athlete
of the Week
pennState
‘lsiafi
‘Meek
SPORT: Men's
Indoor Track & Field
CLASS: Sophomore
DATE: Feb. 17
Isiah Meek (Wayne/
Wayne) was named
this week's Beacon/
Housing and Food
Athlete of the week.
At Slippery Rock
University Invitational
this past Saturday,
Meek finished second
in the 55 meter
hurdles race in 8.02.
His performance
enabled him to qualify
for the ECAC Champi
onships and estab
lished a new Behrend
record. Meek has
placed first or second
in all four indoor
meets this season.
Next up for the blue
and white will be
another indoor meet
at Mt. Union on Satur
day, February 22.
Housing and Food
Service Athlete of
the Week is selected
by the Sports Infor
mation Staff.