ALBION, Mich. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team played the first contest of its two-game weekend road trip to Michigan on Saturday, when the Lions fell 70-61 to non-conference opponent Albion College in the Kresge Gymnasium.

Penn State Altoona (1-3) found itself in a tie game at halftime, but Albion (1-2) outscored the Lions 43-34 in the second half to record the win in the Britons' home opener.

Kaden Claar (Portage, PA/Portage) led the Lions in scoring with 12 points while also dishing out a pair of assists. Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley) had 10 points and three rebounds.

Braelen Cage (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) and Aidan Goodwin (Norwalk, OH/Monroeville) finished with nine points apiece, while Jarrett Gardner (Live Oak, FL/Suwannee) scored seven. Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) led Penn State Altoona in rebounds and blocks, finishing with seven and two, respectively.

Albion got a game-high 17 points from AJ Barden, as well as 16 from Kameron Mayes and nine from Marco Lucchesi.

Penn State Altoona and Albion found themselves deadlocked by the conclusion of a low-scoring first half, as the teams played to a 27-27 tie by the intermission.

The Lions grabbed an early 5-2 lead, getting a three-pointer from Claar and a long jump shot from Bush to establish a three-point advantage a minute and a half into the game. Albion tied the game and later took a modest lead midway through the period, as Mayes' layup and free throw and Barden's basket gave the Britons a 13-10 advantage by the 11:13 mark.

Penn State Altoona drew even with Albion at 8:27, when Claar's layup and foul shot tied the score at 13. The home team jumped ahead following jumpers made by Barden and Lucchesi that gave Albion a 17-13 advantage with just under seven minutes left in the half. But the Lions countered with a Bush three-pointer at 4:59 that gave them an 18-17 lead, and Jones' bucket at 3:32 boosted Penn State Altoona's advantage to three points. Gardner's putback layup at 2:01 kept the Lions' lead at three, 22-19.

However, Albion used three-pointers from Beck Willems and Mayes to knot the score at 25 with 1:30 left in the period. Following two free throws by Gardner, Albion got a layup from Mayes in the closing seconds, and the teams entered halftime tied at 27-27.

Penn State Altoona started the second half with a three-pointer, as Bush connected on a deep trey 38 seconds into the period to push his team ahead, 30-27. But Albion responded with a 14-2 run, capped by Mayes' three-pointer at 14:35 that set the Britons' lead at 41-32. The Lions trimmed their deficit to four, when a three ball and foul shot by Cage cut the Albion lead to 41-37 by 12:16. But the Britons outscored Penn State Altoona 10-4 over the next five minutes, increasing their lead to 51-41.

Jones' dunk at 6:34 lowered Penn State Altoona's deficit back into single digits, 51-43, but Albion continued to grow its advantage throughout the remainder of the half, as the Britons went on to lead by as many as 18 points. The Lions made it a nine-point game by the final buzzer, including late three-pointers by Cage and Goodwin, but Albion finished with the victory.

Penn State Altoona wraps up its weekend road trip to Michigan with a contest against The University of Olivet tomorrow, Sunday, November 19. Tipoff for that game is slated for 3 p.m.