ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team came out on the losing end of a hard-fought Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference game on Monday evening in the Adler Arena, as the Lions suffered a 101-98 loss in two overtimes to Franciscan University.

The Lions (14-9, 10-8 AMCC) trailed for much of the night before battling back to tie the game by the end of regulation. Penn State Altoona survived through a first overtime period, but Franciscan (9-13, 8-10 AMCC) squeezed out a win by fending off the Lions in the second overtime.

"Hearbreaking loss tonight, but I am so proud of how we continued to fight and never gave up. But we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot at the worst moments," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "You can't expect to win many games if you miss 15 free throws. Our shot selection has to get better, and we have to limit turnovers, but we definitely played with a tremendous amount of heart and effort tonight, and I was proud of that."

Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) put up 27 points to tie his season-high, and he also secured a game-high 16 rebounds to clinch his sixth double-double of the season. Harman also tied for the team lead in assists and steals with four and three, respectively, and he blocked one shot.

Cameron Gardner-Nicholson (Philadelphia, PA/Boys' Latin Charter) picked up his team-best ninth double-double of the season, scoring 18 points to go along with 14 rebounds. He also blocked a game-high seven shots, tying for the second-most blocks in a game in Lions history.

Alex McClellan (York, PA/West York) added 17 points off the bench for Penn State Altoona, including going 5-for-9 from three-point range. Austin Krise (Allport, PA/West Branch) finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Jack Kusters (Quakertown, PA/Lansdale Catholic) recorded nine points and a pair of assists, Trey Butterworth (Clarence, PA/Bald Eagle) had seven points, four assists, and three steals, and Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge) also scored seven points.

Franciscan got 27 points from Sean Hickey and 22 points from Travis Lien. Drazen Frankovitch scored 19 points, and Joe Schriner and John Noce added 12 points apiece.

Franciscan opened the game on a 5-0 run, following Frankovitch's layup and Hickey's three-pointer. Down 19-18 midway through the first half, the Barons embarked on a 10-0 run that included treys from Noce and Schriner, grabbing a 28-19 advantage by 9:11. Three Hickey free throws at the 5:37 mark gave Franciscan what would be its largest lead of the game, 36-25.

A 9-0 Penn State Altoona run late in the half, powered by six points from Gardner-Nicholson and a three-pointer from McClellan, knotted the score 38-38. Hickey's three-pointer with 39 seconds left set the halftime score at 41-38.

The Barons got out an eight-point lead early in the second half, going up 52-44 on Lien's layup at 14:42. Justin Mack's three-pointer one minute later made it 55-48.

But Penn State Altoona used a 13-6 scoring advantage over the next four minutes to tie the score again. Two more three-pointers from McClellan highlighted the run, and buckets by Gardner-Nicholson and Harman followed to make it 61-61. Gardner-Nicholson's layup and foul shot at 8:12 put the Lions on top, 66-64.

Franciscan worked its way back into the lead, making it 72-68 at the 3:31 mark following a Frankovitch layup. After a Harman jumper, Hickey's foul shot at the 48-second mark gave the Barons a 73-70 lead.

But Penn State Altoona answered the bell before the end of regulation, as Kusters connected from three-point range with 29 seconds on the clock to tie the score 73-73. The Lions held Franciscan scoreless in its final possession, and the game proceeded into overtime.

Franciscan appeared to take control of the game when it started the overtime period on a 7-0 run, capped by Schriner's layup at 2:53 which gave the Barons an 80-73 advantage. But Gardner-Nicholson and Harman combined for three foul shots to cut the Lions' deficit to four, and Krise's three-pointer at 1:26 made it a one-point game, 80-79. Harman's layup 27 seconds later gave Penn State Altoona an 81-80 lead.

Franciscan responded with a three-pointer from Lien and two Schriner foul shots, giving the visitors an 85-81 edge with 25 seconds to play in the period. But Penn State Altoona evened the score on Harman's layup and a pair of McClellan free throws, and with the game tied 85-85 by the period's conclusion, the contest advanced into a second overtime.

The Barons started the second overtime in similar fashion to the first, using a scoring run to establish a lead. Baskets from Noce, Lien, and Mack helped Franciscan to a 91-87 lead by the 3:42 mark. After Kusters hit a three-pointer to make it a one-point game, Lien's jumper at 2:46 widened the gap back to three, 93-90.

After Krise and Frankovitch traded layups, McClellan came up with a big shot at the 42-second mark, hitting a three-pointer to tie the score 95-95.

But Franciscan reclaimed the lead with 16 seconds to go on a Frankovitch basket, and the Barons added four Hickey foul shots over the next 12 seconds. McClellan hit another three-pointer before the buzzer, but Penn State Altoona still found itself down by three when the clock showed zeroes.

"Hats off to coach [Joe] Wallace and his guys," said McGreal. "They really played hard and just made more plays down the stretch."

Next up, Penn State Altoona men's basketball goes on the road for the last time during the regular season. It will be a short trip for the Lions, who will travel to face nearby AMCC rival Mount Aloysius College this Wednesday, February 19 at 6:00 p.m. in Cresson.

"We hope to get a good fan base to come up the mountain and cheer us on Wednesday," said McGreal. "We just need to try and get better and be able to finish this year on a positive note."