Lions Overwhelm Carlow to Finish Home Schedule
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team eclipsed the 100-point mark for the second day in a row, as the Lions cruised past Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Carlow University 105-78 in their final home game of the regular season Sunday afternoon in Adler Arena.
Penn State Altoona (15-8, 11-3 AMCC) jumped on Carlow (3-19, 2-12 AMCC) early, shooting 55.6 percent from the floor in the first half and taking a 48-34 advantage into the break. The Lions kept their foot on the gas in the second half, hitting 60.0 percent of their shots and putting 57 points on the board to wrap up a comfortable win.
The Lions surpassed 20 assists as a team for the second game in a row, totaling a season-high 26 assists, which ties for the seventh-most in a game in program history.
"Great way to end our regular season home calendar. Our goal was to try and go undefeated at home in conference, and while we unfortunately slipped up once, we won seven of our eight home conference games," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "I'm really proud with how we were able to stay resilient with the uniqueness of the back-to-back games this weekend, not only winning, but winning convincingly in both outings. I really feel like we're starting to play a lot better together as a team. We had two games in a row with 20-plus assists, which is usually conducive to winning, especially in my time here."
The Lions' Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) posted game highs with 18 points, five steals, and three blocks while also grabbing six rebounds and distributing four assists. Kal-El Gentles (Austin, TX/San Juan Diego) finished with 12 points and led all players on the day in rebounds and assists, recording eight and six, respectively.
Mason Kargo (Portage, PA/Portage) scored 10 points to go along with three assists and two steals, and Abiah Charles (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) added 10 points, two assists, and two steals off the bench.
Byron Gaskins and Adnan Sbai each scored 17 points for Carlow, while Riley Comforti added 11 points for the Celtics.
Penn State Altoona got early baskets from Kargo and Jones to score the game's first points, and Jones' layup and foul shot at 14:50 gave the Lions a 13-7 lead. A jumper from Charles and two straight buckets by Gentles extended the home team's advantage to 22-13 by 11:24, and a Nehemiah Frye (King George, VA/King George) layup at 8:02 kept the difference at nine, 27-18.
A pair of free throws from Frye preceded a Kargo three-pointer that put Penn State Altoona up 32-20 with 5:50 left in the period, and Gentles, Frye, and Jones combined for eight points over the next two-and-a-half minutes to make it an 18-point game, 40-22. Back-to-back layups by Charles gave the Lions their biggest lead of the half, 44-25, and Penn State Altoona eventually had a 48-34 advantage by halftime.
Penn State Altoona was dominant for much of the second half, starting the period by outscoring Carlow 22-2 through the opening seven-and-a-half minutes. Kargo and Kaden Claar (Portage, PA/Portage) hit three-pointers along the way, and Jalen Martinez (Brooklyn, NY/New Hope Academy) made a layup at 12:38 to give the Lions their largest lead of the contest, 70-36.
Penn State Altoona maintained a commanding lead the rest of the way and finished with a 27-point decision over the Celtics. The Lions finished with statistical advantages over Carlow in rebounds (34-33), assists (26-15), turnovers (11-22), points off turnovers (20-13), and points in the paint (54-32).
With its final regular season home game under its belt, the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team will close its schedule with two more road games before the AMCC Tournament tips off next week. The Lions face first-place conference opponent Pitt-Bradford on the road this Wednesday, February 19, at 7 p.m., before ending the regular season at La Roche University on Saturday, February 22, at 2 p.m.
"Now, we finish our conference schedule with two huge road tests, starting with the number one team in the league Wednesday and finishing up in Pittsburgh on Saturday," said McGreal. "We need to make sure that we finish strong to hopefully protect our seeding as we prepare to look forward to the conference tournament. Go Lions!"
