10 | The Behrend Beacon
Lady Lion’s head into AMCC play undefeated
By Amanda Defazio
staff writer
The Lady Lions are off to a roaring start. They
started the season winning the championship tro
phy at the Tip-Off tournament, beating both Juniata
and Adrian. On Nov. 27, they beat Hiram in a nail
biting victory, 50-47.
High scorers of the game were sophomore
Tenesha Aden, who was named Newcomer of the
Year last year, and sophomore Rachel Slomski, a
transfer student who is proving to be a vital part
of the team. Aden and Slomski each put up 11
points.
Sophomore Brittany Mays had a double- double,
tearing up the boards with an impressive 10 re
bounds and 10 points. Senior Amber Krumpe had
seven, followed by junior Nikki Pacinelli with six.
“Our offense has been consistent,’’ said Head
Coach Roz Fomari. “Our focus tends to be post
K.J. MARGRAFF/BEACON
Senior Tom Lulich lead the team with 24 points closely followed by Cam Mascara and Jared
Clough dishing out 20 a piece. The Lions fell to Westminster 99-109. The blue and white will
look to senior veterans during the opening weekend of AMCC play.
Men’s and women’s basketball December 3-4
/e %
Dec 3 vs. Pitt Greensburg Dec. 4 vs< Frostburgh
Women’s game @ 6 p.m. Women’s game <B> 4 p.m.
Men’s game @ 8 p.m. Men’s game <© 6 p.m.
FREE POM POMS TO FIRST 50 FANS BOTH DAYS!
HALFTIME GIVE AWAYS TO ROADHOUSE BOTH DAYS!
/
Jl
f LIVE DOWNTOWN!
T RJCNBUCD APARTMENIS
tUCCCSirKOHaMDIA UnunESINCUUOCD
IfitH lcung* nmcssccNTic
tofAI KUfS rCEEOEUIV
NviN tip iopo; to $e en repep
rvCin ■; i rne'enemi
UAHS STARTING AT 5299/PEDSON
\ "a op by Today!
menoian
814-231
www.nerkHwioßcallcgtavMMe.cMi
oriented but we have a good group of talented
guards that have made a huge difference.”
Winning the Tip- Off Tournament gave the blue
and white a taste of just how successful they could
prove themselves to be.
Their first game of the tournament was Satur
day night against Juniata, which they won 77-66.
Posting big numbers and performances were
Pacinelli with 14 points and Aden with 13 points.
Slomski made her first appearance as a Lady Lion
an impressive one, dropping 12 points. Senior
Captains Bambi Lewis scored 12 and Amber
Krumpe had 10 along with 10 rebounds to match.
The women made basketball look easy in
Sunday’s Championship win against Adrian, post
ing a solid 52 points to Adrian’s 43. Krumpe,
Aden and Slomski were again high scorers.
The team proved to be stable from the free throw
line shooting 76.9 percent. This percentage may
be what makes the difference in the upcoming
rile fiow<£)fTys>
Don’t catch the chill
and miss out on die
best apartments!!
SPORTS
weekend AMCC play. After the game, Pacinelli
was named to the All-Tournament Team and Aden
was given the admirable MVP award.
“1 know we have a lot of room for improve
ment but we have already made great strides since
the beginning of the season,” said Fomari.
“This is the first time since I have been here
that we have won our Tip-Off Tournament,” said
Lewis.
This upcoming weekend will be the first taste
of AMCC play for the Lady Lions, who were
ranked NO. 1 in the preseason poll. Friday at 6
p.m.they will take on Pitt- Greensburg, who were
ranked NO. 3.
The teams previously met at last years AMCC
regular season championship and AMCC tourna
ment championship so there will be more bag
gage then just their warm-ups when they come to
Erie.
Fomari expects this games to be “back and forth
and intense as always.”
Men’s basketball looks for
hot hand in AMCC play
By Brian Baffin
staff writer
The men’s basketball team tipped off its sea
son with the Behrend Tip-off Tournament
Nov. 18-19 and starts conference play in the
AMCC this weekend.
The Lions started the season off with a 71 -
58 win over Case Western Reserve Nov. 18
in the opening round of the tournament. The
team went 11 of 23 from behind the three
point line and grabbed 43 total rebounds. Se
nior guard Tom Lulich led the way with 16
points while senior forward Jared Clough had
10 points and 13 rebounds for the double
double.
The blue and white advanced to the cham
pionship game and faced Adrian College.
They fell 63-58 despite a strong effort from
senior forward Cam Mascara. Mascara came
off the bench and led the team with 17 points.
On Nov. 23 the team had their first road
game traveling to Grove City. Despite shoot
ing 48 percent from the field, the Lions fell
62-58. Doug Merski led the way with 13
points.
“So far we have played a tough schedule,”
said Head Coach Dave Niland. “If we can con
tinue to improve I think we can be pretty
solid.”
Final races determine win
Women race up to competition
By Samantha Cibula
sports co-editor
It was the blue and white men swimmers that stole
the spotlight Nov. 21. The men who were coming off of
a lost to Gannon the day before traveled to Nazareth
prepared to win. Determined to keep their record above
.500 the men swam every race for every point.
Whether it was a fourth place or first the men knew
they needed to dominate the races in order to post a win.
By the end of the 200 meter breaststroke emotions were
running high knowing what had to be accomplished in
the 400 meter freestyle relay. The men successfully com
pleted an entire meet winning 125-103, keeping their
record above .500 at 3-2.
“The guys had to push a little harder competing in a
meter pool,” said Head Coach Jen Slack. “The last 25
to 50 meters you could tell the difference from their ath
letes who train in the meter pool everyday and ours.”
Freshmen Dustin Fairchild, Anthony Spoto, Matt
Seiferth and sophomore Brandon Thiel were all able to
find their way to the wall first in their respected races.
“There were many close races and we came out on
top in some and Nazareth came out on top in others,”
said Slack.
Spoto continued to show dominance in the sprint
events capturing the 50 and 100 meter freestyles.
Fairchild and Thiel (Thiel also won the 100 meter back
stroke) added another one-two finish in fire 200 meter
freestyle, while Seiferth’s strong breaststroke leg helped
him capture the 200 meter individual medley and a much
needed win in the 200 meter breaststroke.
The points came for the men first through fifth but a
noticeable difference in scoring came down to the addi
tion of one meter diving sensations freshmen Dan
Wiltrout and Alejandro Neito. Wiltrout, who hit his head
on three meter dive the night before at Gannon, got back
on the one meter board for his team the next day at
Nazareth. Wiltrout captured first place with a score of
170.45 beating out Nazareth’s junior diver Derek Ortiz
by seven points. Neito rounded out Behrend’s diving
placing third, scoring three additional points.
“Having divers made a difference, they are a great
addition for the men and women’s teams,” said Slack.
“Dan was able to pull out a first place on the one meter
board in a meet that remained close start to finish.”
Friday, December 3, 2004
Saturday at 4 p.m., the blue and white will face
Frostburg, who were ranked NO. 2. Fomari has
acknowledged that this is a very talented group of
girls.
“Our team is prepared and excited to get into
conference play,” said junior Kristie Connolly.
“We have worked hard all preseason and are ready
to come out this weekend with a 2-0 record in the
conference, 5-0 overall.”
Hopes are set high as the team prepares for this
weekend.
“We always play better for a packed house,” said
Connolly. “ The more fans we can get to come
out and watch the better.”
Behrend heads into Friday’s game with an im
pressive 3-0 record. Saturday’s game, at 4 p.m.,
will be televised as the Lady Lion’s take on
Frostburgh. Fomari put it best when she said it is
harder to stay on top then to get on top. But have
faith Lady Lion fans, they are ready for the chal
lenge.
The Lions continue with a tough schedule
with three games this week including two con
ference games. On Nov. 30 they traveled to
Westminster College. Westminster took the
win 99-109, but Behrend saw stand out perfor
mances from seniors Tom Lulich who had 24
points, while Cam Mascara and Jared Clough
chipped in 20 a piece. Westminster shot 44
percent from behind the arc going 22 for 50.
Behrend hosts two games over the weekend
against Pitt Greensburg on Dec. 3 and against
Frostburg State on Dec. 4.
“This week we face three very good teams,
and we open league play against the preseason
number one and number two teams,” said
Coach Niland.
Pitt-Greensburg was chosen as the preseason
number one team to take the AMCC champi
onship title and Frostburg State was number
two. Behrend was chosen number three in the
preseason poll.
With a record of 1-3 the Lions look to get
things rolling this weekend and get back on the
winning track. So far this season Lulich is lead
ing the team in scoring with 13.7 points per
game. Clough is leading the team in rebounds
with 8.0 per game. As a team they are averag
ing 62.3 points per game and are shooting 42
percent from the field.
The men’s meet came down to the 200 meter breast
stroke and the 400 meter freestyle relay. The men needed
to pull out a win in the 200 meter breaststroke which was
left in the hands of Seiferth.
“I knew I had to win the race, and I was nervous going
into it,” said Seiferth. “Breaststroke is my event though,
and I knew I could pull out a win.”
The win set the men up for the 400 meter relay where
they took first and second.
“Even though the pool was in meters we didn’t let that
stop us,” said Spoto. “We still went out to swim fast and
win!”
The women fell short of a win against Nazareth drop
ping to 1-4. In spite of the lost freshman Cyndi Morales
continued to make waves through the swimming com
munity posting wins in the 800 and 400 meter freestyle.
At the Gannon meet the day before Morales out swam
Gannon’s division II distance lineup placing first in the
500 and 1000 yd. freestyle events.
Freshman Melissa Pilewski, who currently holds the
100 and 200 yd breaststroke team records placed first for
the women in the 200 meter breaststroke.
Although the women’s record drops to 1 -4 they were
able to capitalize on close races the night before against
Gannon University. Sophomore Whitney Marshall put
the heat to Gannon’s Brenna Pease in the 200 yd freestyle.
Marshall, with a time 0f2:02.95, was just out touched by
Pease who won with a time of 2:01.28.
Sophomore Brittany Yost also raced up to the division
II competition swimming personal best in the 50 and
100 yd. freestyle and knocked Gannon out of a 1-
2 sweep in the 50 yd. freestyle.
“Brittany had personal best in Gannon’s pool,” said
Slack. “Itprovedthatitdoesn’tmatterwhoyou’reswim
ming against or in what pool you can still get up and
race.
Racing Gannon for first and second spots showed the
blue and white swim teams are taking steps in the right
direction.
The team looks to take a few more powerful steps in
the right direction as they head to Wooster Invitational
Dec. 2-4.
“Going into preliminaries at Wooster we already have
many of the swimmers seeded high,” said Slack.
The invitational will have both prelims and finals.