AMCC Tournament Page
HAMBURG, NY – The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference’s Final Four pairings for the men’s basketball tournament are set now that last night’s first round games became official. The top four seeds advance and will square off February 22 (6/8pm) with the Championship game set for February 23 (3pm) at Hilbert College. Hilbert earned the right to host the AMCC tournament as the #1 seed after the Hawks (14-4) defeated La Roche (14-4) twice during the season.
Hilbert (20-5) will face Medaille College (17-9), who coasted to a 97-68 first round win over Mount Aloysius (16-10) last night. The cross-town rivals will tip at 6:00 pm Friday while La Roche (16-9) will square off against Penn State Behrend (18-8) at 8:00 pm. Behrend moved on after they defeated Pitt-Bradford (13-13) 63-42 in Erie, PA.
The AMCC Championship game between the Friday night winners will begin at 3:00 pm February 23.
Admission is $5 per adult and $2 for students under the age of 21 years. Any Hilbert faculty, staff or student with ID will be admitted free.
The AMCC champion secures the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. WebStream Sports along with the NCAA will produce a Division III Men’s Basketball Selection Show scheduled to air on www.NCAA.com Monday, February 25 at 12:30 pm.
TOURNEY NOTES:
Hilbert dropped two close games to Medaille this season but are currently riding a six-game win streak and playing with a ton of confidence.
The Hawks are led offensively by seniors Anthony Hodge (16.6 points and 2.5 steals) and Dan McFarland (14.0 points and 3.28 assists). Freshman Jerame Owens (11.3 points, 52% FG, 8.8 rebounds and 1.64 blocks) clogs up the middle and has grown into a strong presence in the paint.
The Mavericks, known for their impressive shooting percentages, boast sophomore Jammal Coleman’s 16.4 points a game with 53.6 field goal percentage and senior Tyler Steven’s 46.1 three-point field goal percentage, averaging 2.36 long distance scores a game. Senior Josh Laureano quarterbacks the offense distributing 5.24 assists a game and holds a 2.02 assist to turnover ratio.
La Roche claimed an exhausting 71-69 triple over-time road victory at Behrend in early January before they grabbed a 51-47 win late in February.
The RedHawks, an emotionally-driven team, challenge opponents defensively and have a very balanced offensive attack. Senior Joel McIntosh is 6 away from breaking 1,000 points in his career after averaging 12.1 points per game this year. Lionel Perkins chips in 11.6 points per game and David Jackson pulls down 9.0 rebounds a game and averages 9.9 points.
Penn State Behrend comes into post-season with a #4 national ranking in 3-point field goal percentage defensive (27.8%) as well as the #5 national ranking for scoring defense, holding their opponents to 56.4 points per game. All the while, they average only 13.3 personal fouls per game (#6). Senior Russ Conley carries the Lions with his 19.6 points per game, 60.6% field goal shooting and 8.2 rebounds per game. Nick DeLisio chips in 11.5 points and 3.2 assists per game.
BY THE NUMBERS:
In the head-to-head-to head numbers, each team is 3-3 overall.
Hilbert’s victories were over La Roche (73-71, 79-75 OT) and Penn State Behrend (63-50)
La Roche captured wins against Penn State Behrend (71-69, 3OT; 51-47) and Medaille (68-59)
Penn State Behrend took home wins over Medaille (72-69, 64-55) and Hilbert (68-61)
Medaille secured victories against Hilbert (80-70, 92-83) and La Roche (82-62)
YEARS OF PARTICIPATION:
Penn State Behrend is the senior team in the conference, marking their 15th year participating in the Championship weekend series. La Roche follows with 10 appearances while Medaille and Hilbert make 6 and 5 shows respectively.