Men's Basketball Prevails Over Panthers, 97-86
ALTOONA, Pa. - The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team continued its crucial four-game Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference homestand Monday night with a 97-86 win over visiting league opponent Pitt Bradford in Adler Arena.
Penn State Altoona (10-9, 4-6 AMCC) worked its way to a 10-point halftime lead, thanks to a big first half in which the Lions converted 56.8% of their field goals. Pitt Bradford (11-9, 6-5 AMCC) closed the lead in the second half, but the Lions held on for the 11-point victory.
"Felt good to get back in the win column against Bradford and exorcise some demons, especially from last year," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal.
Rasheed Daniels (Richmond, VA/Monacan) put up a game-high 30 points, making tonight his second consecutive game where he scored 30 points. Daniels also had three assists, two steals, and one block.
Braelen Cage (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) scored 24 points and went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Kaden Claar (Portage, PA/Portage) scored 17 points and added two assists and two steals. Claar and Michael Baskerville (Damascus, MD/Damascus) tied for the team high in rebounds with six each. Baskerville scored seven points, while adding two assists, two steals, and two blocks. Mason Kargo (Portage, PA/Portage) had a game-high eight assists.
Pitt Bradford had three players tied for the team high in scoring, with Xander Norris, Clarence Cobbins, and Maki Hill each having 13 points.
The game was tight early on, with Penn State Altoona scoring off a Claar three-pointer and Baskerville jump shot. However, Pitt Bradford fired back, taking advantage of a couple of turnovers by the Lions.
Starting at the 15:44 mark, Cage and Claar both scored layups as Drew Escala (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) added a three-pointer to give the Lions a three-point lead. The Panthers responded, going on an 8-2 run to take a three-point lead.
The next three minutes saw four lead changes as the Panthers and Lions tried to gain an advantage in the game.
The Lions started to get a foothold in the game at the 8:23 mark, going on a 13-3 run that included a three-pointer from Aidan McCormack (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury); a layup, jump shot, and three-pointer from Daniels; and a three-pointer from Cage. The run gave the Lions an 11-point lead.
The Lions followed that up with a 7-2 run including free throws from Claar as well as a layup and three-point jump shot from Daniels. The 7-2 run grew the Lions lead to 13 points.
The final two minutes of the half saw baskets traded back-and-forth between the teams. Pitt Bradford had the final points of the half, with Coby Farley scoring a three-pointer to make it 57-47 going into the halftime break.
Both teams came out of the halftime break looking to score, as the Panthers scored a quick two baskets to cut the Lions' lead to six points. The Lions fired back with Daniels and Cage scoring layups to extend the lead back to 10 points.
The Panthers went on a 9-0 run at 15:22 to reduce the Lions' lead to only four points.
Like before, the Lions responded, with Daniels scoring a layup and the subsequent free throw and Claar scoring a three-pointer to give the Lions more breathing room.
The Panthers clawed their way back, going on a 6-1 run to make it 80-78. That would be as close as the Panthers would get, being outscored 13-8 in the final five minutes. The Lions held on, 97-86, for their second consecutive win.
"Just really proud of this team for how we keep fighting adversity and finding ways to win. Despite losing players at the beginning of the year, middle of the year, and even last week, we've still been able to find the right mix of effort, energy, and execution to be able to win these last two games against good competition."
The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team remains at home for their next game on Wednesday, February 4, against Carlow. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
"Now, we hope to get our first sweep of the year against a tough Carlow team and then hope to finish off this homestand in fashion on senior day this Saturday," said McGreal.
