ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team used a gritty effort on Wednesday evening to pull out an exciting 70-64 victory over nearby Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference rival Mount Aloysius College in the Adler Auxiliary Gym.

On a night in which it did not have its best offensive game, Penn State Altoona (4-2, 2-2 AMCC) leaned on its defense to secure the win.

"Very, very proud of our defensive effort, first and foremost. Being able to hold Mount Aloysius and two of the AMCC's top scorers, [Nate] Christian and [Julian] Stover, to 64 points is a big deal for us. It's what won us the game," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "When Christian got hot late, we were able to keep the rest of the team at bay and make big stops down the stretch when we needed to. Coach [Will] Cabrera was done a great job over there, and they're going to be a team to beat in the conference when it's all said and done. So being able to take care of business tonight was huge for us."

Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge) scored a team-high 20 points for the Lions while tying for the game-high in steals with three. Jack Kusters (Quakertown, PA/Lansdale Catholic) scored 18 points to go along with seven rebounds and two assists.

Cameron Gardner-Nicholson (Philadelphia, PA/Boys' Latin Charter) tallied his second double-double of the season, scoring 15 points while grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds. He also tied the game-high with four shots blocked, and he chipped in a pair of steals. Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) scored 10 points, secured six boards, and totaled three steals to tie for the game-high.

"Cam dominated the paint on both ends of the floor. He blocked shots, had defensive and offensive rebounds, and scored the basketball when given the chance. Robbie getting in a groove late in the second half really propelled us, and he hit free throws to help keep our lead and eventually lead us to victory," said McGreal. "Jack played very, very aggressively, especially in the first half, when he had 13 of our 29 points. He also hit a huge three down the stretch to extend our lead. Druw did not play his best game of the year in any aspect, but he made huge plays down the stretch to help seal the victory for us, whether it was the layup that gave us the lead or the big steal and finish at the other end to seal the deal."

Additionally, Clevon Scott (Raeford, NC/Hoke County) totaled a career-high three blocked shots, while Bryan Acosta (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) distributed a game-high three assists.

Mount Aloysius (4-4, 1-2 AMCC) got a game-high 22 points from Nate Christian, the AMCC's leader in points per game. Julian Stover added 17 points, Trent McErlane scored 11, and Enoch Quarcoo grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.

Points were hard to come by for much of the first half, and Mount Aloysius found itself up 17-11 by the 11:23 mark following McErlane's three-pointer.

But Penn State Altoona used Kusters' layup and foul shot at 8:01 and Gardner-Nicholson's dunk at 6:58 to grab a 20-19 lead. Kusters' three-pointer at 3:57 made it 23-19, and his jumper at 2:59 increased his team's lead to 25-21. Two layups from Gardner-Nicholson helped the Lions stay on top, 29-26, by halftime.

After Mount Aloysius regained the lead early in the second half, Hicks' three-pointer at 18:29 put the home team back on top, 32-31. But the Mounties came back to take the lead again midway through the half, when Stover's layup and Christian's three-pointer put the visiting team on top, 44-41, with 9:04 to play.

The teams continued to jockey for the lead over the next several minutes. Hicks converted on a three-point play at 7:43 to put the Lions in front, 48-46, but Christian answered by connecting from beyond the arc at 7:08 to put the Mounties ahead, 49-48. Stover's layup and free throw at 5:53 tied the score 54-54.

But Penn State Altoona took the lead back on its next possession, jumping up 56-54 on Hicks' layup. Kusters' three-pointer at 5:11 made it 59-54, and a Harman layup at 3:47 upped the Lions' lead to 61-54.

With 53 seconds remaining, Christian was fouled on a three-point attempt and sank the ensuing trifecta of foul shots to tie the score again, 62-62.

But the Lions responded again, getting a layup from Harman 11 seconds later to put the home team back in front. In the ensuing Mount Aloysius possession, Harman created a steal and converted it into points, as his layup at the 29-second mark put Penn State Altoona ahead 66-62. Hicks went 4-for-4 in two trips to the free throw line within the game's final 19 seconds, helping to ice the win for the Lions.

Penn State Altoona finished the game with scoring advantages over Mount Aloysius in the paint (40-22) and in second chance points (19-8), and the Lions also held a 54-43 rebounding advantage over the Mounties.

Next up, the Lions will look to close their four-game AMCC homestand on a strong note this Saturday, December 14, when the team will host conference opponent D'Youville College for a 1:00 p.m. game in Adler.

"We can't sleep on D'Youville this weekend," said McGreal. "They're going to be a hungry team looking for their first conference win, so we've got to make sure we're ready to play and not rest on the successes of tonight."