Lions and Mavericks Fight For Rights to Compete for AMCC Title

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team will open the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Tournament in the Junker Center on Friday against the No. 4 Medaille Mavericks. The Lions enter as the No. 1 seed, claiming the top seed with a win against Penn State Altoona in the regular-season finale last Saturday.

Coverage: Live Stats | Video

No. 1 Behrend News & Notes:

* The Behrend Lions became Regular Season Co-Champions along with Altoona, sharing a conference mark of 13-3  
* It's the first time since the 2014-15 season that Behrend finished atop the AMCC
* The Lions finished with the best scoring defense in the conference, allowing 64.2 points on average
* Behrend had three players average double-digits in scoring this season, led by Kenny Fukon (Cranberry Twp., PA/Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic) who ranked fifth amongst AMCC scorers (16.9)
* PJ Gourley (Butler, PA/Knoch) was the sixth-highest scorer in the conference with an average of 16.8 while ranking third in field-goal percentage (56.5)
* Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) averaged 11.8 points per contest along with 5.7 boards per game
* The Lions averaged the most made and attempted three-pointers in the regular season within the AMCC
* Matt Niland (Erie, PA/Fairview) has made 57 field goals this year with 40 of those coming from beyond the arc

No. 4 Medaille News & Notes:

* The Mavericks advanced to the final four after knocking off No. 5 Pitt-Greensburg on Wednesday, 64-61
* Kendall McGill led the Mavs with a team-high 22 points in the victory
* McGill helped secure the win with a steal and score with 23 seconds left to take a one-point lead
* Rodney Graves enters as the conference's third-leading scorer with an average of 18.2
* Graves had a career-high 42 points in a win against Cazenovia on November 13, making it the third highest single-game total the program has seen in Medaille history
* The Mavericks have the third-best scoring defense in the conference, holding opponents to 79.5 points per game

Series History:

* Behrend has won 10-straight games against Medaille, including postseason matchups
* The last time the Lions and Mavericks went head-to-head in the AMCC Tournament was during the 2018-19 season with Behrend advancing on the winning end of an 82-52 decision
* Overall, the Lions are 36-11 against the Mavs, dating back to 1977

AMCC Tournament Bracket:

First Round: Tuesday, February 22, 7 p.m.
Game 1: #3 La Roche def. #6 Hilbert, 89-71
Game 2: #4 Medaille def. #5 Pitt-Greensburg, 64-61

Championship Round at #1 Penn State Behrend
Semifinals: Friday, February 25
Game 3: #1 Penn State Behrend vs. #4 Medaille, 6 p.m.
Game 4: #2 Penn State Altoona vs. #3 La Roche, 8:30 p.m.

Finals: Saturday, February 26, 3 p.m.