ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona golf team kept its early season momentum going on Saturday, when the Lions took first place in the James M. Bowen Invitational, hosted by Penn State Behrend at Whispering Woods Golf Club.

Matching up against several Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponents for the first time this spring, Penn State Altoona came out victorious, shooting 334 as a team to edge second-place Penn State Behrend by one stroke. Pitt-Bradford finished in third place with a team score of 356, and Mount Aloysius College rounded out the pack with 384.

Despite getting off to a slow start, the Lions rounded into form throughout the day amid some challenging weather conditions to win the invitational.

"It's always a good thing to chalk up a team victory, especially against conference competition," said Penn State Altoona head coach Tom Koehle. "We had a slow start, responded well in the middle part of our round to get back into things, and ultimately earned first place."

Andrew Ferguson (Altoona, PA/Tyrone) led the way for the Lions on Saturday, firing an 80 to take first place by a margin of three shots among a field of 26 individual golfers at the event.

"I can't say enough about Andrew's performance today," said Koehle. "He didn't finish things off the way he would like, but a three-shot win under today's conditions was a nice way to lead us to a team win."

Luke Hoffnagle (York, PA/Spring Grove) shot 83 and won a playoff over Penn State Behrend's Alex Pol for the runner-up spot, clinching second place individually. Jimmy Gillespie (Glen Mills, PA/Garnet Valley) also carded an 83 to tie for fourth place.

Jacob Mrvos (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) and Trey Heffelfinger (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) each finished with a score of 88 to tie for tenth place.

Penn State Altoona men's golf returns to action this Wednesday, April 7, when the Lions will compete against other Penn State NCAA Division III campuses in the Penn State Division III Challenge. The event will be held at Toftrees Golf Course in State College, with tee times expected to begin at 11:30 a.m.