Thursday, December 7, 1995
Freshmen stepping up in photo finishes
by Julie Stocker
Assistant Sports Editor
If you want to talk about
excitement this week, let’s talk
about Penn State-Behrend men’s
basketball.
Last evening against the
visiting Washington and
Jefferson Presidents (1-7),
Anthony Costantini’s buzzer
beating NBA range three-pointer
propelled the Lions to a 62-59
nail-biting victory.
Costantini’s game-winner
wasn’t the only big three the
freshman forward had down the
stretch. With about 40 seconds
left in the contest, another NBA
three was launched by the
Photo by Chris NeborVCo*egian Photographer
Open your bright eyes: Andy Rife goes for a layup in
pregame warm-ups.
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Pittsburgh native to tie the
contest.
But Costantini only aided the
cause with big shots and IS
points to get the Lions to crunch
time.
Ron Derian finished the contest
with 14 points, nine rebounds,
and four assists, and Brian
Perkins netted 11 points.
Niland had this to say about
W&J, “This is a good team that
has had a tough schedule so far.
Overall, their team has great
quickness.”
But if you were not in Erie
Hall last weekend, you missed
the beginning of barn-burner
week.
Svorts
In the first round game on
Friday night, Behrend clashed
with the Bethany Bison, and
came out a winner, 73-66.
“We played them very tough
defensively,” said Coach Niland.
“We had intensity going into the
game and kept it up, and that was
key.”
Bethany was led by Kevin
Kozup, who was entering the
contest averaging 28.6 points per
game as well as being named the
PAC’s player of the week. But
with several Lions locked in on
Kozup, the junior guard was
“held” to 22 points.
“We knew [Kozup] was tough,
he’s a great player,” started
Niland. “But we made him earn
everything. [Jason] Paloskey,
[Andy] Lawrence, [Andy] Rife,
and [Steve] Adams all held him
down.”
In Behrend’s second win of the
season, this week’s athlete of the
week, Chad Sutton, put up the
numbers. The junior point guard
had team-highs in points with
16, assists with four, steals with
four, and fouls, with five.
Sutton was on fire from the
floor as he shot 6-for-8 from the
field and 3-for-4 from three-point
range.
Perkins was the only other
Lion in double figure scoring, as
he finished the evening with 10
points and a team-high six
rebounds.
As the teams cleared the floor
for halftime, Behrend had a 35-24
edge, mainly to 53 percent
shooting from the field and 38
percent from behind the arc. In
the process, the defense held
Bethany to 38 percent shooting
for the first 20 minutes of play.
“In the past couple of games,
we’ve shot the ball very well.
The guys are finding the open
man, and making the extra pass,
which leads to better shots,”
remarked Niland.
Despite being out scored in the
second half (42-38), Behrend
ended the first round of action
with impressive shooting
numbers. The Lions shot 50
percent from the field, 46 percent
Photo by Chris NeteorVCotegian Photographer
Come and got some of this: Chad Sutton gets ready to play some tough defense last
night against Washington and Jefferson in Erie Hall.
from down town, and 81 percent
from the foul line.
Bethany dropped to 2-3 after
the loss, and would lose to the
Adrian Bulldogs in the
consolation game on Saturday.
Adrian lost to Pitt-Bradford
Friday evening in order to battle
the Bison for third place in the
tourney.
Behrend stuffed the fans by the
bus load into Erie Hall at 3 p.m.
for what promised to be an
exciting championship game
against the Panthers of Pitt-
Bradford.
From the tip, the game went
back and forth, with Behrend
hitting on the outside shots, and
Bradford used their height
advantage by packing it inside.
At the intermission, the teams
were dead locked at 41. Each
team was hot from the field, as
Behrend shot 57 percent; Bradford
55 percent
This one went down to the
wire, with Bradford Head Coach
Andy Moore using all of his
time-outs to stop the clock in the
final minute.
In the last play of the game,
thanks to a steal by Sutton,
Behrend had the ball with four
ticks remaining on the clock, tied
at 74. So who would Behrend go
to for the last shot?
Would you believe a freshman?
Freshman Paloskey let the ball
fly from three-point range with
time winding down. The shot
was well short, but the 5’11”
guard was fouled in the act of
shooting. Paloskey was then
awarded three shots from the
charity stripe.
Bradford Coach Moore
immediately went in a rage
against the officials, and called a
time-out to ice the youngster.
The pause in the game worked,
as the freshman bricked the first
shot.
After the miss, Moore called
another time-out. This time
Paloskey got in the zone and
made the final two shots.
“I have a lot of confidence in
Paloskey and all of our guys,”
commented Niland. “Paloskey is
a nice player that came through
for us. But I would put any of
our players in that situation in a
heartbeat”
Behrend won its second game
in a row, its second Hamot
Classic in a row, and forth
Classic tournament win in five
years, 76-74.
“We really played well
defensively in both games.
Sometimes we got tentative and
didn’t handle the ball well, but
that’s part of learning how to
win,” said Niland.
Paloskey led Behrend to the
championship hardware by going
6-of-9 from the field, finishing
with 16 points. His weekend
performance earned Paloskey a
spot on the All-Tournament
Team.
Costantini also contributed a
solid showing in the Classic, as
he finished with 13 points and 7
rebounds against Pitt-Bradford.
Costantini was calling from long
distance in the final, as he went
3-for-4 from three-point land.
Perkins finished with 13 points
to bring his average up to 9.2
points per game. With a solid
effort in both games of the
tournament, Perkins was named
the 1995 Hamot Classic Most
Valuable Player.
“[Perkins] did a great job both
offensively and defensively,”
stated Niland. “He works hard and
is very deserving [of being named
MVP]. He’s a great leader.”
When the second place
tournament trophy was presented
to the Pitt-Bradford Panthers after
the game, it aroused much
dismay in the fans that no
member of the squad got up to
accept the honor.
Finally, senior Bob Podomnik,
another All-Tournament Team
member, thanked Behrend
Athletic Director Herb Lauffer for
the award.
Behrend (4-2), on the other
hand, was very eager and
appreciative to accept the
championship trophy, as the four
juniors; Derian, Sutton, Perkins,
and Adams raised the trophy with
smiles for all to see.
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