Men’s Basketball Snaps Skid with 92-84 Home Win
by Casey Burinskas
ALTOONA, Pa. – On Wednesday night, the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team took on Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Pitt-Greensburg in Adler Arena, and the Lions put a halt to their three-game losing streak with a 92-84 victory over the Bobcats.
Penn State Altoona (7-11, 6-5 AMCC) came back from a double-digit deficit in the first half, outscoring Pitt-Greensburg (7-12, 6-5 AMCC) 56-38 during the second half to come back and win. The Lions shot 17-for-35 from three-point range in the victory, with their 17 made three-pointers representing the second-most in a game in team history.
Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley) had a career-high, game-high 30 points to lead the Lions while coming in with five rebounds. Following closely behind was Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown), who had 24 points and a team-high total of eight rebounds.
Placing third on his team in points was Justin Sheetz (Eldersburg, MD/Maryland) with 23 points. Jahmar White (Yigo, Guam/St. Paul Christian School) recorded a game-high eight assists to go along with six points and five rebounds.
"I've been really getting on the upperclassmen to start shaping up this season, and they showed up tonight, especially in the second half," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "Mason scored 30, Dwayne scored 24, Sheetz scored 23, and Jahmar had eight assists. They finally woke up and played the way we needed so that we can continue winning."
Pitt-Greensburg was led in scoring and rebounding by Trent Rozich, who finished with 18 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Matthew Marinchak scored 17 points for the Bobcats, and Ryan Greggerson had 16 points.
To start off the first half, the Lions were quick to respond to an early Pitt-Greensburg score, getting on the board by putting up a three-pointer by Jones. At 14:27, with the Lions trailing the Bobcats, Aidan Goodwin (Norwalk, OH/Monroeville) pulled out a three-pointer to put Penn State Altoona up by one, 13-12, until Jones came back with yet another three-pointer to give the Lions a 16-14 lead.
Later into the half, Pitt-Greensburg worked its way into the lead, but a pair of free throws by Bush closed the gap between the Bobcats' lead and Penn State Altoona's total to four, 25-21. With the Lions trailing by 12 with 4:07 left in the half, Bush was able to hit another three-pointer, followed by a Sheetz three-pointer that brought Penn State Altoona back to within six, 40-34. But the Bobcats reestablished their 12-point lead, and after Bush made one last layup for the Lions, Pitt-Greensburg went into halftime with a 46-36 lead.
Coming back into the second half, the Lions pushed forward with a few strong shots. After falling behind by 10 points at the half, Penn State Altoona was quickly able to close the gap with Sheetz making a three-pointer, a layup from White, a dunk by Jones, and another layup from Bush, putting Altoona back into the game and cutting Pitt-Greensburg's lead to 49-45. Bush was able to sink three straight three-pointers to bring the Lions within three points, 60-57, with 13 minutes left. Two Sheetz three-pointers put Penn State Altoona ahead 63-62, and Sheetz tacked on a foul shot to give the Lions a two-point lead, 64-62, with 11:27 to play.
Penn State Altoona pulled even further ahead on a Sheetz dunk that made it 70-64, followed by a three-pointer made by Mason Kargo (Portage, PA/Portage) to increase the Lions' lead to 73-66. The Lions took their largest lead of the game, 82-70, on a Caleb Pierce (Altoona, PA/Altoona) three-pointer at 5:49. Penn State Altoona maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way, and after getting a Sheetz dunk with 1:48 left in the game and a Jones layup at 1:25, the Lions clinched a 92-84 victory against Pitt-Greensburg.
Next up, the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team will take on new AMCC opponent Wells College at home this Saturday, January 27 at 4 p.m.
