Men’s Basketball Suffers Loss to Rival Mounties
by Casey Burinskas
CRESSON, Pa. – On Wednesday night, the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team took on Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference rival Mount Aloysius College, and the host Mounties came away with an 89-85 victory over the Lions in the ACW Center.
Penn State Altoona (8-12, 7-6 AMCC) had a successful night shooting the ball, as the Lions finished with a 50.8 percent field goal percentage that included going 13-for-25 from three-point range, tying for the sixth-most three-pointers made in a game in team history. But Mount Aloysius (7-13, 5-8 AMCC) held a 10-point lead at the half and did enough to fend off the Lions down the stretch in the second half.
Holding the top scoring position for the Lions was Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley), who had a game-high total of 21 points while grabbing two rebounds. Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) landed 20 points followed by a game-high total of 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.
Michael Baskerville (Damascus, MD/Damascus) also added to the Lions' scoring with a season-best total of 12 points, followed by Abiah Charles (Orlando, FL/Wekiva), who provided a season-high 11 points off the bench. Jahmar White (Yigo, Guam/St. Paul Christian School) scored seven points and had four assists.
Penn State Altoona got two points from Baskerville to put the Lions on the board early in the first half, and Aidan Goodwin (Norwalk, OH/Monroeville) landed a three-point jump shot that was able to bring the Lions to a tie, 7-7. At 14:50, Jones was able to put up a three-pointer, followed by another three-pointer from Bush to give the Lions their first lead of the game, 18-16. As the Lions continued to hold their lead, Charles made a layup and a three-pointer to tally the score to 23-18 by 12:44.
But Mount Aloysius outscored Penn State Altoona 24-8 over the next 10 minutes, establishing a 42-31 lead with 2:26 left in the first half. White placed in two free throws after a foul on Mount Aloysius, and Penn State Altoona trailed by nine, 42-33. Near the end of the half, Charles made a layup, followed by White making a three-pointer, but Mount Aloysius took a 48-38 lead into halftime.
Coming back into the second half, the Lions were first to score on a layup made by Jones with an assist from White. Baskerville and Bush were also able to make a mark early in the half, with both landing three-pointers to bring the Lions back to within four points, 50-46. Bush and Baskerville each hit another three-pointer to tie the score at 54-54 by the 14:36 mark, and White's layup at 14:13 put Penn State Altoona in front, 56-54. Mount Aloysius reclaimed a four-point lead, but Jarrett Gardner (Live Oak, FL/Suwannee) made two layups to help the Lions once again tie the game with the Mounties, 67-67, by 9:24. After a Mount Aloysius basket, Charles was able to keep up and make a layup to leave the score tied, 69-69, with 8:40 left.
With only six minutes left in the game and down by four, the Lions went to trial. With a layup from Jones, the score was set at 75-73, and another basket from Jones at 4:43 kept Penn State Altoona within three, 78-75. But Mount Aloysius scored six points over the next two minutes to increase Penn State Altoona's deficit to nine, before two Baskerville free throws had the Lions trailing by seven just before the clock hit the two-minute mark.
Another Jones layup and two Bush free throws got Penn State Altoona back to within three, 84-81, with 39 seconds remaining, and a Jones dunk with 15 seconds to go put the difference back at three, 86-83. Bush made two more foul shots with 10 seconds left to keep it a three-point game, 88-85, but Penn State Altoona ran out of time. Despite putting up a strong fight, the Lions ultimately fell to Mount Aloysius by four, 89-85.
Next up, the Penn State Altoona Lions men's basketball team will take on AMCC opponent Alfred State College on Saturday, February 3 at 4 p.m. on the road.
