HAMBURG, N.Y. - For the fifth consecutive year, the Hilbert College men's basketball program has qualified for the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference post-season tournament.  This also marks head coach Rob deGrandpre's seventh trip to the tourament since the college joined the AMCC league in 2004-05.

The top six teams in the AMCC league battle for the conference's automatic bid to the Division III national tournament which begins in March.

On Tuesday, February 24,  #4 Hilbert College will host #5 Pitt-Bradford at 7 pm in the Hafner Recreation Center and #3 Pitt-Greensburg will host #6 D'Youville College in Chambers Hall.

 #1 Penn St. Behrend and #2 Medaille College each received first round byes.  The Lions, who have five AMCC championships under their belt, are looking to claim their third in a row as the host institution for the second straight year.

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 juniorJerell 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.  Senior Trevor Stark also is a major contributor to the team's success as he leads the AMCC in assists (5.9) while averaging 13.3 points per game (15th).

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
 
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