ALTOONA, Pa. – Big plays and defensive stops late in Tuesday night's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament first round game helped the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team to an 81-73 victory over Hilbert College in the Adler Arena.

Fourth-seeded Penn State Altoona (16-10) had just beaten Hilbert (15-11) by 23 points in Adler this past Saturday, a win that clinched an AMCC Tournament berth and first round home game for the Lions. But when Penn State Altoona was slated for a rematch against Hilbert in a first round playoff game, head coach David McGreal and his team knew that the going would be tougher.

"Hats off to coach [Rob] deGrandpre and Hilbert. They came back guns blazing with a point to prove after Saturday, which we knew they would," said McGreal. "They kept fighting and taking the lead, and we had to fight with them tooth-and-nail to pull this one out."

Tuesday's game featured seven lead changes and 10 ties, but a late run was enough for the Lions to pull away for good. With the win, Penn State Altoona will advance to the AMCC Tournament semifinal round this Friday, February 28, when the Lions will travel to Pittsburgh to face number one seed La Roche University at 12:00 p.m.

"What an exciting night to be part of the Penn State Altoona athletics department and men's basketball team," said McGreal. "It was a great environment in Adler, with great fan support and community support. We were happy to be able to pull out the victory down the stretch."

Penn State Altoona's Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) led all players in the game with 25 points and 12 rebounds to notch his eighth double-double of the season, and he also posted team-highs with seven assists, three blocks, and four steals. Cameron Gardner-Nicholson (Philadelphia, PA/Boys' Latin Charter) recorded his team-high 11th double-double of the year, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists and two blocks.

Austin Krise (Allport, PA/West Branch) scored 16 points while bringing down five rebounds, and Jack Kusters (Quakertown, PA/Lansdale Catholic) earned 11 points and eight rebounds. Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge) added seven points and two blocks off the bench.

Trey Butterworth (Clarence, PA/Bald Eagle) chipped in three assists, and Clevon Scott (Raeford, NC/Hoke County) blocked two shots.

"There were big plays down the stretch by Druw, and a huge three late in the game from Austin, a senior who came through with some clutch shots and great defensive effort when we needed," said McGreal. "Hilbert was hurting us for a while, and we finally buckled down and changed some things defensively to get some key stops."

Hilbert got 20 points and 11 assists from Hunter Martineau. Lazar Jovanovich provided 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, while Ryan Hogan added 11 points.

Penn State Altoona got out to a slow start, and Hilbert capitalized by working its way to a lead midway through the first half. Hogan's three-pointer at 12:33 gave the Hawks a 17-11 lead, and his layup 38 seconds later made it 19-11.

The Lions began to warm up on offense, however, waking up for a big 17-1 run to turn their eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead. Krise's trey at 7:59 tied the score 20-20, and Gardner-Nicholson's layup 41 seconds later put the home team on top. Another three-pointer by Krise, along with Hicks' layup and Harman's foul shot, gave Penn State Altoona a 28-20 lead by the 5:54 mark.

Hilbert answered with a 14-6 run, capped by a pair of three-pointers from Christian Przybyla and Hogan that knotted the score 34-34 with 1:32 remaining in the first half. A put-back layup from Mason Marks (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg) got Penn State Altoona back into the lead, and the Lions headed into halftime with a 36-34 advantage.

After layups from Gardner-Nicholson and Harman opened the second half scoring, Hilbert embarked on a 16-2 run to reclaim the lead, 50-42. But Penn State Altoona responded with a 9-0 run of its own to earn a 51-50 lead, getting two layups from Harman, a basket by Gardner-Nicholson, and a three-pointer from Alex McClellan (York, PA/West York) during the rally.

The two teams continued to jockey for position over the next several minutes. Martineau's three-pointer helped the Hawks to a 60-55 lead by 9:05, but Hicks' trey tied the score 60-60 less than a minute later. Krise connected on a three-pointer at 5:19 to give the Lions a 65-62 lead, but a free throw and layup by Martineau tied things up, and Jacob Braniecki's three-pointer at 3:58 gave Hilbert a 68-67 advantage.

Just 15 seconds later, Harman was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit two free throws to put Penn State Altoona back in front. Krise connected from beyond the arc at 2:37 to make it 72-68, and after Hogan's three-pointer cut Hilbert's deficit to one, Gardner-Nicholson's layup at 1:46 gave Penn State Altoona some breathing room, 74-71.

The Lions' defense locked down, allowing just two Hilbert free throws after Hogan's three-pointer at the 2:07 mark. Harman's three-pointer as the shot clock expired gave Penn State Altoona a 77-71 lead with 50 seconds to go, and his fastbreak dunk 12 seconds later was a dagger to the Hawks' hopes.

The teams traded free throws within the game's final 20 seconds, and Penn State Altoona earned the first round AMCC Tournament win.

"I'm so proud of this senior class and the team in general for finishing off this home stretch of the season the right way, with back-to-back wins to not only get us into the tournament, but to then get us a tournament victory," said McGreal. "This puts us in rarified air in team history here with the men's basketball program."

Now, Penn State Altoona will look ahead to its AMCC semifinal matchup with number one seed La Roche on the Redhawks' home court this Friday at noon.

"Now it's on to the best team in the league at their place," said McGreal. "We're just going to enjoy tonight and soak this one in, and then get prepared for La Roche and give them our best shot on Friday."