Men's Basketball Breaks Into National Poll at No. 23

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team cracked the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, ranking 23^rd in the nation.

The Lions (17-1, 12-1 AMCC) have not lost since December 5, 2015, and are riding a 13-game winning streak. Last season, Behrend made it to the No. 23 spot as well, but after the regular season and just before playoffs. They rode a 12-game win streak into that ranking.

Behrend finished the month of January with a perfect 11-0 record, averaging 76.2 points per game while only giving up 58.8 points a contest. The Lions took over the top spot in Division III in scoring defense, (58.4 ppg). They also rank second in the nation with only 13.3 fouls per game, keeping their opponents from free points at the charity stripe.

Senior Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) and freshman Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) are leading Behrend through this remarkable season thus far.

Hackett ranks second in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) in rebounds per game (10.9) and first in field-goal percentage (60.9%). Niland leads the league in three-point percentage with a 45.4 percent mark, and is third in free-throw percentage at 89.1 percent.

Behrend is looking to carry all of this strong momentum into their final six regular-season games in the next three weeks to earn the right to host the AMCC playoffs in the Junker Center for the third straight year.