Box Score

HAMBURG, NY - The Medaille men's basketball teams quest for a fourth AMCC title in five seasons came to a heartbreaking end this afternoon when their potential game winning three pointer fell short, giving rival Penn State-Behrend the (63-60) win and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  The title game was a back and forth thriller that saw six lead changes and eight ties.
 
The Mavs fell down by as many as ten points midway through the opening half but would begin to knock down shots and chip away at the Behrend lead, eventually grabbing their first lead with (5:24) remaining in the first.  The Mavs would carry a (33-30) lead into the intermission and it seemed evident that the game would go down to the wire.
 
Coming out of the break Penn State-Behrend seized the momentum as they capitalized on several missed layups by the Mavs while knocking down shots on their end of the floor.  However, just like in the first half the Mavs would make a run and regain the lead on a Jammal Coleman jumper with (10:06) remaining followed by a three pointer from Robby Seyler less than a minute later that gave Medaille a four point cushion.
 
The Mavs would stretch their lead to as many as seven points a pair of times, the latest of which came with (5:29) to play when Anthony Battaglia cashed in on left handed floater in the lane for (54-47) advantage.  The Lions would follow that up with a (7-0) run that would even the score at (54-54) with (2:14) to play in regulation.
 
With (1:03) to play the Mavs would themselves up (58-56) courtesy of two made free throws by Ryan Grandits and a slashing layup from senior Josh Laureano.  On the ensuing possession Behrend's Nick DeLisio knocked down a deep three to give the Lions a one point edge.  The Mavs would never recover despite having some decent chances, the best of which came with six seconds left when Ryan Grandits open three missed just short.
 
In what was a fairly clean game from both teams, Behrend's slight edge in field goal shooting, aided in their win.  The Lions committed just eight turnovers while Medaille was only forced into (11) miscues.  The Lions just edged the Mavs on scoring in the paint (32-28) despite a game high (23) points from Behrend center Russ Conley.
 
The Mavs were led in scoring by Jammal Coleman who netted (15) points on (6 of 12) shooting from the floor, he also pulled down a team high (7) boards in the loss.  Both Battaglia and Seyler chipped in with a dozen points apiece, with Battaglia managing to gather in six caroms as well.  Once again the Mavs were led by Laureano who dished out a game high (5) assists.
 
The loss drops Medaille to (18-10) overall as they wait to see if they are selected to participate in the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Tournament.  Those selections will be announced tomorrow afternoon.
 
SEASON STATS