PITTSBURGH – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team won its third straight game while bagging its fifth Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference win on Wednesday night, when the Lions held off conference foe Carlow University for an 82-79 victory in the Donahue Pavilion.

Penn State Altoona (9-6, 5-1 AMCC) never trailed, building a 41-31 halftime advantage and holding the lead despite a late push from Carlow (2-11, 1-4 AMCC).

"Excited to escape with a hard-fought victory against a very scrappy and good team from Carlow in a really tough place to play. We started the game off strong, which always is good on the road to set the tone early," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "We held the lead throughout the game, but as we've done lately, we made things a little closer than they needed to be down the stretch. We've got to make sure to close halves better, first half and second half."

Five different Penn State Altoona players finished in double digits for points in the win.

Nehemiah Frye (King George, VA/King George) led the way for the Lions with a team-best 17 points to go along with five rebounds. Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) scored 16 points, distributed four assists, and tied for the team-high in rebounds with seven.

Kal-El Gentles (Austin, TX/San Juan Diego) scored 14 points, grabbed five boards, and totaled a game-high six assists. Kaden Claar (Portage, PA/Portage) finished with 12 points, five assists, and four rebounds, and Jalen Martinez (Brooklyn, NY/New Hope Academy) provided 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

"Great all-around game from multiple players, and some guys stayed resilient dealing with nagging injuries and some foul trouble tonight," said McGreal.

Carlow got a game-high 23 points from Nehemiah Brazil. Adnan Sbai and Riley Comforti scored 15 and 10 off the bench, respectively, and Jordan Cannon totaled 11 points for the Celtics.

Penn State Altoona scored the first three baskets of the night on a Jones layup and two baskets by Gentles, and the Lions maintained a modest lead throughout the first half. Two Jones layups and a bucket from Martinez gave the visitors a 12-8 advantage by 13:16, and Michael Baskerville (Damascus, MD/Damascus) hit a foul shot before making a layup to put his team's lead at 15-11.

Carlow knotted the score at 15-15 and 17-17, before four points from Jones got Penn State Altoona back into the lead. Another basket from Jones at 6:14 boosted the Lions' advantage to 10 points, 27-17, and Frye connected on a three-pointer at 5:39 to give his team its largest lead of the night, 30-17. Late baskets from Baskerville and Gentles, along with two free throws from Abiah Charles (Orlando, FL/Wekiva), set Penn State Altoona's lead at 41-31 by the intermission.

Gentles' jump shot and Frye's layup early in the second half got the Lions' lead to 12 points, 45-33, and Claar's trey at 14:34 kept the difference at 12, 52-40. Penn State Altoona continued to hold a 12-point advantage following back-to-back layups from Charles and Claar.

Carlow closed the gap to four on Sbai's three-pointer at 11:30, then made it a three-point game, 59-56, on Sbai's layup just over a minute later. Gavin Moyer's trey and Byron Gaskins' layup kept the Celtics within three points, 64-61, with 6:20 to play. Just under two minutes later, the home team knotted the score on Brazil's layup and foul shot, tying the game at 64-64.

But Penn State Altoona did not relinquish its lead. After a Jones layup put the Lions back on top, Frye scored four straight baskets to boost his team's advantage to 74-64 with 2:22 remaining. A Jones foul shot and Claar jumper gave the Lions a 77-68 lead by the 52-second mark, and three Claar free throws and another Frye layup helped Penn State Altoona successfully close the game out to win it by three, 82-79.

Next up, Penn State Altoona men's basketball returns home for another AMCC game, as the Lions will host La Roche University in Adler Arena this Saturday, January 18, at 2 p.m.

"Always great to get a road win in the conference," said McGreal. "Now it's time for a huge matchup Saturday with the Redhawks from La Roche. Let's get some fans out and make it a great atmosphere. Go Lions!"