Men's Basketball Playoff Preview

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men’s basketball team is gearing up for the 2012-13 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Tournament this week.

The Lions (17-8) earned the third seed and will host sixth-seed Pitt-Bradford on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

This marks the 16th straight AMCC playoff appearance under head coach Dave Niland.  Behrend is coming of a great regular season, during which they went 13-5 in conference play.  The Lions will be looking for their fourth title and their first since the 2007-08 season.

Behrend is led by senior Russ Conley (Transfer, PA/Reynolds).  Conley leads the AMCC in scoring (19.6) and is tied for first in field goal percentage (.606).  Conley moved into second place on the Lions’ all-time scoring list on Saturday and is currently 29 points away from setting a new mark. Sophomore guard Nick DeLisio (Aliquippa, PA/Central Valley) has also been a consistent threat for the Behrend offense.  DeLisio averages 11.5 points and a team best 3.2 assists per game.

The Lions will heavily rely on their nationally-ranked defense in the tournament.  All six teams in the AMCC Tournament average at least 66 points per game.  Behrend has the nation’s fifth best scoring defense, allowing just over 56 points per game.

The winner of the Penn State Behrend/Pitt-Bradford game will advance to the semifinals to face second-seeded La Roche on Friday at 8 p.m. at Hilbert.