BEHREND MEN LOOKING TO THREE-PEAT AS TOURNAMENT CHAMPS

The AMCC men's basketball tournament will be underway Tuesday when #3 Pitt-Greensburg hosts #6 D'Youville College and when #5 Pitt-Bradford travels to #4 Hilbert College. Top seed Penn St. Behrend and #2 Medaille College each receive first round byes. The Lions, who have five AMCC championships under their belt, are looking to claim their third in a row.

Behrend (23-2, 17-1 AMCC) has been hot all season, as they are currently tied with the 1999-2000 team for the best start in program history with 23 wins in their first 25 games. Sophomore Wes Davic is tops in the league in rebounds per game with 10.9. Senior Zane Hackett leads the Lions offensively as he ranks sixth in the AMCC in scoring with 15.6 points per game and is second in field goal percentage with 59.9%.

Medaille (17-7, 14-4 AMCC) is led by senior guard and AMCC Preseason Player of the Year, Jammal Coleman, who leads the league in scoring with 21.1 points per game. Junior guard Chris Willingham also pitches in with 12.5 points per game.

The Pitt-Greensburg Bobcats (13-12, 13-5 AMCC) and the D'Youville Spartans (10-15, 8-10 AMCC) each won on the other's home court earlier this season. The Bobcats, who are looking for their first conference title since 2000, will need big games from junior Jerell Figueroa, who ranks eighth in the AMCC with 15.0 points per game and sophomore Marcus Thomas who is fifth in rebounds with 8.6 per game and 11th in scoring with 14.2 points per game.

D'Youville will once again be looking for a win in the Bobcat's home gym this year. Senior center Julian Reed has led the Spartans all year and is ranked fourth in the AMCC in scoring with 16.8 points per game and is third with 9.3 rebounds per game. Reed is also one of the most consistent from the floor, shooting at a 55% clip. 

The first round games are sure to be crowd pleasers, as the Hilbert Hawks (19-6, 13-5 AMCC) and the Pitt-Bradford Panthers (15-10, 12-6) also split earlier this season, each claiming victories in their own gym. Hilbert junior Jerame Owens, who leads the Hawks in both scoring and rebounding, is second in the AMCC in rebounds with 10.2 per game and is fifth in scoring with 16.0 points per game.

Pitt-Bradford junior Eric Matheson averages 15.6 points per game, good enough for seventh in the conference, while shooting 44.3% from long range. Sophomore Zach Smith pulls in 6.4 rebounds per game for the Panthers.

MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET

First Round: Tuesday, February 24, 2015
#6 D'Youville College at #3 Pitt-Greensburg, 8:00 p.m.
#5 Pitt-Bradford at #4 Hilbert College, 7:00 p.m.
#1 Penn St. Behrend (bye)
#2  Medaille College (bye)            

Championship Round at Penn St. Behrend
Semifinals: Friday, February 27, 2015
6pm:  #1 Penn St. Behrend vs. winner of 4v5
8pm:  #2 Medaille College vs. winner of 3v6

Finals: Saturday, February 28, 2015 - 3pm