BUFFALO, NY - The Medaille men's basketball team was looking for a third straight win when they hosted AMCC rival Penn State-Behrend this evening.  However, a furious second half rally would fall short as the Mavs fell in a (72-69) heartbreaker to the Lions.

The Mavs were hit on the chin early by the Lions as Behrend jumped out to a (21-6) lead with (12:23) remaining in the opening half.  They would dominate the paint with preseason conference player of the year Russ Conley donig the damage.  He finished with a game best (32) points and (11) rebounds on (15 of 21) shooting.  Conley carried his team to a (37-23) halftime lead.

The Mavs made the necessary second half adjustments and came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders.  The Mavs began to chip away at the Behrend lead and evened the score at (51-51) with (7:19) remaining in the game.  The Mavs would grab the lead for the first time on a layup by Josh Laureano with (3:37) left to play to go up (60-59). Down the stretch the lead would switch hands three different times but the Lions would hang on for the win, in what turned out to be a thrilling finish.

In the loss the Mavs were led by sophomore Jammal Coleman who posted a team best (20) points on (8 of 11) shooting from the floor.  Coming off the Maverick bench to provide a spark was Ryan Grandits who chipped in with (10) points on (3 of 6) shooting to go along with (3) rebounds.  Meanwhile, Laureano dished out a game high (6) assists and tallied a dozen points.

The loss drops Medaille to (5-3) overall and they fall to (2-2) in conference play.  They will look to get back in the win column when they head to Miami, FL where they will face Messiah College on Friday (12/21) at 7:00pm in the first round of the Adidas Shootout.