ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team was selected by coaches in the conference to finish at the top of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) in this year's preseason poll.

Last year, the Lions finished the regular season behind Hilbert who they eventually lost to in the AMCC championship game. Behrend finished the season with a 21-6 record and went 14-4 in conference play.

The Lions were honored at the end of the season for holding the best scoring defense in all of Division III. They held opponents to only 60.5 points per game including under 50 points on five occasions.

Behrend is returning four of their five starters, three of which are sophomores. Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) was named AMCC Newcomer of the Year. The sophomore point guard scored 14.1 points per game and drained a team-high 69 three-pointers. He also ranked eighth in the nation with a 90.9 free-throw percentage.

Malquan Pullium (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent), a senior guard, returns after a solid 2015-16 campaign. He was second on the team in rebounds per game (4.80), total rebounds (126) and steals (31). Justin Gorny (South Park, PA/South Park) drained 67 three-pointers and averaged 9.3 points per game while Matt Colpoys (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) was second on the team in assists (73) and played 30.7 minutes per game.

Behrend will open their season Tuesday, November 15 against Thiel. Tip-off is at 7 p.m in the Junker Center.