ERIE, Pa. – In a game that determined the right to host the upcoming Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference postseason tournament's final four, the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team suffered a close 63-60 loss to Penn State Behrend on Saturday in the Junker Center.

With its win, Penn State Behrend (18-5, 13-3 AMCC) takes the top seed in the AMCC Tournament and will host the semifinal and championship rounds next Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26.

Meanwhile, Penn State Altoona (18-6, 13-3 AMCC) takes the second seed and earns a first-round bye. The Lions will enter the tournament in the semifinal round, facing the winner of Tuesday night's game between Hilbert College and La Roche University on Friday, February 25 at 8:30 p.m. in Erie.

Despite the loss, Penn State Altoona will get a share of the AMCC regular season championship, as the Lions and Penn State Behrend finished the conference schedule with identical 13-3 records. It marks the first time in Penn State Altoona men's basketball history that the team has tied for the top record in the conference to become co-regular season champions.

"Extremely disappointing loss to end our record-breaking regular season," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "Very proud of us finishing as co-conference regular season champions, but we would have loved to have hosted the final four of the tournament. But it wasn't meant to be."

Saturday's game was a tightly-contested, low-scoring affair that featured 18 lead changes and nine ties. Neither team led by more than six points throughout the game.

"Behrend always does a great job slowing us down, and for some reason, we refuse to run against them like we are capable of," said McGreal. "A lot of that is great coaching by [Dave] Niland, but some of it us just us not playing confident and playing our game plan."

PJ Charles (Altoona, PA/Altoona) tied for the game-high in points, going 7-for-12 from the floor and 2-for-2 at the free throw line to finish with 16 points. Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley) added 15 points while going 4-for-6 from the floor – including 2-for-3 from beyond the three-point line – and 5-for-6 at the foul line, and he also secured a team-best seven rebounds.

Saivon Word (Upper Marlboro, MD/Frederick Douglass) added eight points and tied for the game-high in assists with five. Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge) scored seven points, grabbed five boards, and tied for the team lead in steals with three. Varun Ajjarapu (Tampa, FL/Berkeley Prep) chipped in seven points, four rebounds, and three steals.

Penn State Behrend got 16 points, eight rebounds, and five assists from Kenny Fukon, and Matt Niland contributed 14 points and four assists. Tommy DiRienzo totaled 10 points off the bench.

Both teams shot well during the first half. Behrend made 13 of its 25 attempts from the floor (52.0 percent), including hitting nine of 13 from three-point range for a 69.2 percent success rate. Meanwhile, Altoona was 16-for-32 (50.0 percent) from the field, including going 3-for-8 (37.5 percent) from beyond the arc.

Two Charles layups and a basket from Hicks helped Penn State Altoona get out to a 6-2 lead just over two minutes into the game, and a Word jumper and Charles bucket extended the Lions' advantage to six, 10-4, by the 15:47 mark.

Three-pointers from PJ Gourley and Jacob Zeis helped Behrend cut its deficit to one, 16-15, by 11:38, and another trey from Gourley just over a minute later tied the score 18-18. RJ Marsh hit a three-pointer at 8:22 to give the home team a 21-18 lead.

Just over two minutes later, the teams traded three-pointers while exchanging the lead. Fukon's three at 6:04 gave Behrend a 24-22 lead, but Hicks connected from beyond the arc 21 seconds later to give the advantage back to Penn State Altoona. Niland answered with a three-pointer at 5:27, but Bush's three-pointer at 5:07 put the Lions back on top, 28-27.

Bush's layup at 2:15 helped Penn State Altoona to a 35-33 lead, but Fukon made a jumper and then hit from three-point range to give Behrend a 38-35 advantage with 39 seconds left in the half. Charles' last-second layup cut Penn State Altoona's deficit to one, 38-37, by halftime.

Both teams' offenses slowed down in the second half, however, as Penn State Altoona shot just 27.8 percent and Behrend shot 25.0 percent. The teams combined for just 48 points in the half.

Penn State Altoona seized the momentum early, as a dunk by Charles and three-pointer from Ajjarapu helped the Lions to a 42-38 lead. But two Niland three-pointers and a DiRienzo trey pushed Behrend back in front, 47-42, by the 14:49 mark.

Two Bush free throws and an Ajjarapu layup helped Penn State Altoona regain the lead, 50-47, and a pair of Hicks foul shots at 9:16 broke a tie score to put the Lions up 54-52. After Behrend tied the game again, Bush made a free throw and Charles added two of his own at 5:53 to give the visitor a 57-54 advantage.

Behrend knotted things up again at 2:25, when DiRienzo's layup evened the score at 58-58. The score stood until the 35-second mark, when a Fukon three-pointer put the home squad up 61-58. Fukon added a free throw to Behrend's total with six seconds left to play, making it 62-58.

Bush drew a foul on the next possession, making both free throws to narrow Penn State Altoona's deficit back to two, 62-60. A foul call on Behrend's inbounds pass sent DiRienzo to the line, where he made one to make it a three-point game, 63-60. Penn State Altoona came up empty on a desperation play with 0.3 seconds remaining, and Behrend hung on to win the game and clinch the number one seed in the conference.

With the regular season now complete, Penn State Altoona men's basketball will prepare to face third-seeded La Roche or sixth-seeded Hilbert in an AMCC Tournament semifinal game on Friday night in Erie.

"We have to now really regroup and refocus and use all of the frustration we're feeling now as fuel for next weekend's tournament," said McGreal. "We still have a chance to win our first conference tournament championship and get to the dance, but we have to stick together and stay positive. We have had a great season, and we are not done yet."