PITTSBURGH – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team suffered a 74-53 loss to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference foe La Roche University on Saturday afternoon, in a rematch of last season's conference championship game at the Kerr Fitness and Sports Center.

Penn State Altoona's (6-9, 5-3 AMCC) offense was held in check throughout the game, as La Roche (6-9, 5-3 AMCC) limited the Lions to a 30.4 percent field goal percentage, including a 25.0 percent success rate from three-point range.

Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) scored a team-high 19 points for the Lions while grabbing five rebounds, blocking three shots, and recording a pair of steals. Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley) added eight points, three rebounds, and two assists, and Jarrett Gardner (Live Oak, FL/Suwannee) secured a team-high seven rebounds.

Bryce Epps paced La Roche's scoring efforts with 20 points, while Isaiah Thomas added 14 points and nine rebounds for the home team. Joe Starzynski and Jerique Walker contributed 11 points apiece for the Redhawks.

Penn State Altoona struggled from the field during the first half, shooting just 28.1 percent while managing 25 points.

A pair of early layups by Bush helped Penn State Altoona keep the score even, 4-4, before La Roche went on an 8-0 run to grab a 12-4 lead, capped by Brooks' three-pointer at 14:20. A Starzynski trey at 10:44 put the Redhawks' advantage at seven, 15-8, and Walker connected from beyond the arc at 9:38 to make it 18-9.

Penn State Altoona used an 8-0 run to get back to within one, as Elliot Johansson's (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) layup and foul shot preceded Jones' three-pointer and two free throws, cutting the La Roche advantage to 18-17 by 8:23. The Redhawks responded with their own run, outscoring Penn State Altoona 10-0 over the next three minutes to create a 28-17 lead.

Three straight buckets from Jones helped Penn State Altoona cut its deficit to five, 30-25, with 1:12 remaining in the first half. Thomas sank a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left, and La Roche went into halftime with a 32-25 advantage.

The Lions started the second half with a Bush three-pointer that made it a four-point game, 32-28, at the 19:16 mark. But the game turned when La Roche embarked on a 21-0 run, increasing their four-point advantage to a 53-28 lead by 14:51. The home team went on to go ahead by as many as 28 points, when Walker's three-pointer at 9:16 gave La Roche a 63-35 advantage.

Penn State Altoona was unable to dig out of its hole, as La Roche maintained a lead of over 20 points for the rest of the game.

Penn State Altoona men's basketball continues its stretch of road games on Wednesday, January 17, when the Lions head north to face AMCC foe Pitt-Bradford. Tipoff for that contest is set for 7 p.m.