For just the fourth time in Penn State Altoona men's basketball program history, the Lions have reached the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament semifinal round.

Penn State Altoona, the number four seed in the AMCC Tournament, travels to top-seeded La Roche University on Friday, February 28 for a semifinal round game at 12:00 p.m. The winner will advance to the AMCC Championship game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

Game Details

Who: #4 seed Penn State Altoona (16-10, 11-9 AMCC) at #1 seed La Roche University Redhawks (19-6, 19-1 AMCC)

What: AMCC Tournament, Semifinal

When: Friday, February 28, 12:00 p.m.

Where: Kerr Fitness & Sports Center, La Roche University, Pittsburgh, Pa.

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Game Notes

Series History: La Roche leads Penn State Altoona 35-10 in the all-time series.

Postseason History: Penn State Altoona is 1-1 against La Roche all-time in the AMCC Tournament. The Redhawks pulled out an 89-82 win in a first round AMCC Tournament game on February 22, 2000, while the Lions prevailed 67-65 in an AMCC Tournament first round matchup on February 26, 2003.

How They Got Here: Penn State Altoona finished the regular season with an 11-9 record in the AMCC, earning the fourth seed in the tournament after a big 97-74 win over Hilbert College in the Lions' final game of the regular season. Penn State Altoona proceeded to host Hilbert in a rematch during the first round of the AMCC Tournament on Tuesday evening, when the Lions pulled out an exciting 81-73 win, moving on the Friday's AMCC semifinal.

La Roche posted a 19-1 record in the AMCC this season to secure first place in the regular season standings and the top seed in the conference tournament. The Redhawks' lone AMCC loss came at Franciscan University on January 15, a 72-71 decision. La Roche finished the regular season on an 11-game winning streak, and the Redhawks received a first round AMCC Tournament bye, thanks to their status as the top seed.

Previous Meetings this Season: Penn State Altoona had its first AMCC game of the season at La Roche on November 26, losing 113-84. The Lions led for the majority of the first half and went into halftime down by just three points, but La Roche exploded for a 71-point second half to beat Penn State Altoona by a wide margin. Andruw Harman scored a team-high 19 points for Penn State Altoona, while Nate Gillen provided 15 points off the bench. Tyler Frederick scored a game-high 22 points for La Roche, and Kennedy Smith finished with 20 points.

In the teams' second meeting of the season, the Lions struggled to overcome mistakes, as La Roche earned an 83-63 win in Altoona. Jack Kusters finished with a team-leading 15 points for Penn State Altoona, and Harman added 12 points and nine rebounds. Darius Lawrence paced the Redhawks with 16 points, and Frederick had 15 points.

What's Next: The winner of Friday's game will advance to the AMCC Championship game on Saturday, February 29, which will be hosted at La Roche. Tipoff time is set for 1:00 p.m.

Second Round Hurdle: Penn State Altoona has reached the AMCC's final four three previous times in program history, but the Lions have never earned a win in the tournament's second round to advance to the conference title game. On February 28, 2003, the Lions were edged 60-55 by Pitt-Bradford in the AMCC Tournament semifinals. Penn State Altoona's next AMCC second round game came on February 29, 2008, when the Lions suffered a 62-42 loss to Penn State Behrend. The program's third AMCC semifinal game was February 25, 2017, when Penn State Altoona was defeated 91-77 by Medaille College.

Building Blocks: Penn State Altoona holds sole possession of second place among all NCAA Division III teams in total blocks (161) and blocks per game (6.2) this season. The Lions are just five blocks away from passing Grinnell College for the number one spot in total blocks. Grinnell is also ranked first in blocks per game, averaging 6.6 per contest.

Frederick Force: La Roche junior forward Frederick has been the main cog in the Redhawks' success this year. The big man leads the AMCC in both points per game (19.5) and rebounds per game (11.6). In two games against Penn State Altoona this season, he is averaging 18.5 points per game while shooting 13-for-26 from the field.

Kerr Center Struggles: Penn State Altoona men's basketball has lost 10 straight games at La Roche. The Lions' last win in the Kerr Fitness & Sports Center came on February 11, 2020, a 50-49 victory for Penn State Altoona.

Seeing Double: Senior center Cameron Gardner-Nicholson and sophomore guard/forward Harman have combined for 19 double-doubles this season. Gardner-Nicholson has 11 of those double-doubles, with Harman adding eight.