Men’s Basketball Overcomes Slow Start to Beat Redhawks
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team shook off a sluggish start to Saturday afternoon's home game with Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent La Roche University, ultimately prevailing 70-59 in Adler Arena.
Penn State Altoona (10-6, 6-1 AMCC) was held scoreless until the 13:26 mark of the first half and did not make its first field goal until 12:08. But both teams labored through a low-scoring opening half that saw La Roche (4-11, 2-5 AMCC) clinging to a 26-25 advantage by the intermission. However, the Lions got on track in the second half, outscoring the visitors 45-33 to clinch their sixth AMCC victory of the season and 10th win overall, already matching the team's win total from last year.
"I was so proud of the way the team played today, despite obviously not a great start. We were able to stay resilient and stayed together. We kept defending at a high level, and luckily, we were able to find a little bit of offense in the second half," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "Got to give big credit to our second group, who gave us a spark not only in the first half, but also in the second half, led by Abiah."
Penn State Altoona got a game-high 19 points from Kal-El Gentles (Austin, TX/San Juan Diego), who also recorded seven rebounds and two steals. Abiah Charles (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) came off the bench to provide a career-best 18 points on a 9-for-11 shooting performance.
Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) contributed 10 points and a game-best eight rebounds and two blocks. Kaden Claar (Portage, PA/Portage) and Nehemiah Frye (King George, VA/King George) chipped in nine points apiece, with Claar also having three assists and Frye grabbing four boards.
La Roche was led in scoring by Bryce Epps, who finished with 16 points and four assists. Joe Starzynski had 11 points for the Redhawks.
Penn State Altoona allowed a season-low 59 points to La Roche, limiting the Redhawks to a 38.3 percent field goal percentage, including 5-for-19 from three-point range.
"This has to be one of the best defensive efforts we've ever had against La Roche. Holding them to under 60 points is a huge accomplishment towards us believing we can be a better defensive team," said McGreal.
The first half began with a scoreless drought of nearly four minutes for both teams, until Epps' layup at 16:17 put La Roche on the board. Jones' foul shot at 13:26 represented Penn State Altoona's first point of the day, and layups from Jones and Charles helped the Lions to a 5-4 lead by 11:44. A three-pointer from Michael Baskerville (Damascus, MD/Damascus) put the Lions up by two, 10-8, a minute and a half later, and two Charles baskets and a Jalen Martinez (Brooklyn, NY/New Hope Academy) layup made it 16-10 by the 8:32 mark.
La Roche outscored Penn State Altoona 16-9 over the remainder of the half, and the Redhawks seized a 26-25 advantage on a late jump shot from Michael Brooks.
The teams traded baskets for much of the second half until midway through the period, when Penn State Altoona worked its way on top and began to pull away. With the score knotted at 37-37 under the 11-minute mark, the Lions used a 12-2 run, which was powered by eight points from Charles, to establish a 49-39 advantage by 6:54.
Six points from Gentles helped boost Penn State Altoona's lead to 12, 57-45, with 4:29 to go, and Frye hit a three-pointer at 2:17 to make it a 14-point game, 62-48. The Lions maintained a comfortable lead over La Roche the rest of the way, helped by six Gentles foul shots and two Claar free throws over the final minute of play.
Next up, Penn State Altoona hosts first-place AMCC team Pitt-Bradford on Wednesday, January 22, at 7 p.m. in Adler Arena.
"Now, we get the buzzsaw that is Pitt-Bradford here in Adler on Wednesday night," said McGreal. "I hope we can get a good crowd of some students, faculty, and staff and people from the community. This will be one of the most entertaining games of the year. Go Lions!"
