CRESSON, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team opened its 2024-25 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference schedule with a rivalry game on the road Tuesday evening, and the Lions pulled out a 90-86 victory over Mount Aloysius College in the ACW Center.

Down by one at the half, Penn State Altoona (4-3, 1-0 AMCC) outscored the home team by five in the second half to win, helped by a 50.0 percent field goal percentage in the period. The Lions did the little things well to earn a tight victory on the road, including winning the turnover battle by seven while holding Mount Aloysius (2-4, 0-1 AMCC) to a 39.2 percent success rate from the floor.

"What a great way to start off our conference season with a win up the mountain against that other school in our conference, especially after having a really long weekend traveling to Springfield, Massachusetts, where we played two really tough games. Having just one day to prepare, we were able to pull out a hard-fought victory," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "This one had special meaning to me, so I was glad that we were able to rally in the second half and make enough plays down the stretch to walk out of here with a win. I am really proud of my guys."

Nehemiah Frye (King George, VA/King George) led Penn State Altoona in scoring with 20 points while grabbing six boards, and Kaden Claar (Portage, PA/Portage) finished with 18 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) notched his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while also recording game-highs with five blocks and four steals. Kal El-Gentles (Austin, TX/San Juan Diego) tallied 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

"Nehemiah and Kaden stepped up their games tonight and made some big plays," said McGreal. "We settled into the game in the second half, and a lot of guys, including Michael Baskerville, Mason Kargo, and others, played huge roles down the stretch to get the win. The turkey's going to taste a lot better on Thursday after this. Go Lions!"

Mount Aloysius got a game-high 26 points and 14 rebounds from De'Von Haggans. Will Hagwood contributed 18 points and eight boards for the Mounties, and Ronnie McClain provided 17 points off the bench.

Down by one early in the first half, a layup from Gentles and jump shots by Jones and Claar gave Penn State Altoona a 10-5 lead by 16:13. Claar hit a three-pointer at 14:08 to keep the Lions' lead at five points, and an Abiah Charles (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) bucket at 12:46 made it 17-12. Two Charles layups and a Justin Sheetz (Eldersburg, MD/Liberty) three-pointer put Penn State Altoona's lead at 24-16 by 10:41, and baskets from Frye and Gentles gave the Lions a 28-19 advantage, their largest of the half, by the 8:40 mark.

Mount Aloysius worked its way back, including getting threes from Julius Cummings and Haggans, to cut its deficit to 30-28 by 5:47. Hagwood's jumper at 2:10 kept the Mounties within two, 39-37, before two Maurice Hudgins foul shots tied the score, 39-39, 11 seconds later. Cummings connected from deep again at 1:30 to put the Mounties ahead, 42-41, and a Hagwood trey at 1:07 made it 45-41.

Penn State Altoona closed the gap to one by the end of the half, as Frye's three-pointer with 29 seconds left in the period narrowed the Mount Aloysius lead to 45-44.

The Lions retook the lead early in the second half, getting baskets from Claar, Jones, and Frye to jump ahead by five, 52-47. Gentles' trey at 13:43 gave Penn State Altoona a seven-point advantage, and a Jalen Martinez (Brooklyn, NY/New Hope Academy) layup 39 seconds later made it 61-52.

Helped by three McClain three-pointers, Mount Aloysius got back on top, 64-63, by the 10:48 mark. But Penn State Altoona answered with a Sheetz three and layups from Claar and Frye to establish a 70-67 advantage by 9:11. Two Michael Baskerville (Damascus, MD/Damascus) layups helped the Lions increase their lead to four, 78-74, by the 7:12 mark.

Mount Aloysius pushed back again, going up 79-78 on a Haggans putback, then making it 83-81 on a Haggans layup at 3:42. The teams traded points over the next several possessions, and a Hagwood bucket at 2:07 put the home team up by one, 86-85.

But Penn State Altoona shut out Mount Aloysius the rest of the way while getting five free throws from Frye, starting with his pair of foul shots that put the Lions up for good, 87-86, with 1:34 to play.

Penn State Altoona finished the game with the advantage in turnovers (8-15), and the Lions outscored Mount Aloysius off turnovers (22-12), in the paint (50-32), and on the fastbreak (43-16).

Penn State Altoona men's basketball returns home for its next game, as the Lions will dip back into non-conference play to host Chatham University this Sunday, December 1, at 3 p.m.