Lions Headed to NCAA Tournament

2014 NCAA Tournament Interactive Bracket

ERIE, Pa. --The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team will battle Hope College on Friday, March 7 in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament.

The game will be played at Hope's 3,400 seat DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland, MI. Game time has not yet been announced.

The Lions (23-4) earned an automatic bid by virtue of their 2014 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Tournament championship. The Lions defeated Pitt-Bradford 87-71 in the semifinals behind Nick DeLisio's (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) 26 points and then downed Hilbert 66-51 in the title game thanks to a double-double from Shane Skelly (Westlake, OH/Westlake).

The Flying Dutchman (20-7) earned an at-large bid after falling 78-53 to Calvin in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament championship game.

DeLisio leads Behrend in scoring at 13.0 points per game, and junior Keith Wallace (Erie, PA/Central Tech) ranks second on the club with an 11.2 ppg average.

The Lions stellar 2013-14 campaign has featured a nine-game winning streak from December 29 to January 23, and their current seven game run. Behrend has won 18 of their last 20 games dating back to December 29.

This will be the Lions seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament and the second time in program history Behrend has made back-to-back appearances.