GREENVILLE, Pa. (Nov. 13) -- The Thiel College men's basketball team dropped a non-conference tilt with Penn State Behrend 94-76 Wednesday night on Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium in the home season opener.

The Tomcats fall to 1-2 with the loss while Behrend rises to 2-0.

Thiel got off to a strong start in the first half as Gabriel Gonzalez (Merida, Venezuela/Southwest Miami) tallied 6 straight points to give Thiel a 16-8 edge at the 12:47 mark. Behrend used an 8-0 run to draw even at 19 at the 9:19 mark of the half, but the home side responded with a mini 4-0 spurt that was capped off with a Mike Brown (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) 3-pointer to go ahead 23-19. The visitors found their groove offensively and outscored Thiel 23-12 to close the half and take a 42-35 lead into the break.

Gonzalez posted a team-leading 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Brown pitched in 11 points, had a team-best two steals and tallied three assists.

Both sides scored at will in the opening 20 minutes, as Thiel shot 51.6% (16 of 31) from the field while Behrend was a tick better at 51.7% (15 of 29). The Lions added four 3-balls in the first half and eight free throws.

Thiel cut the deficit to 5 (49-44) at the 17 minute mark of the second half but the Lions grew the lead to 18 following a 21-8 spurt over the next 5:30 to lead 70-52 with 11:30 left to play. The Tomcats were unable to climb there way back into the contest as Behrend outscored Thiel 52-41 in the second half.

Both sides shot the ball above 50% for the game as Behrend sat at 57.4% (31-for-54) and Thiel at 50.8% (31-for-61).

Khamari Accursio-Harris (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) tallied 13 points on 6-of-8 from the field to go with three rebounds. Rob Thomas (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) added 10 points and a team-best five boards while John Morgan (Indianapolis, Ind./Lebanon) went 6-for-7 at the charity stripe in route to a 10-point effort. Anthony Henderson dished out a game-best five assists while scoring 8 points.

Defensively, Thiel was unable to limit Tommy DiRienzo's production as the 6-foot-4-inch senior tallied a game- and career-high 42 points on 13-for-22 and 15-for-15 at the line. 

The Tomcats return to action Saturday when they host Chatham at 3 p.m. to open Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play.