by Casey Burinskas

ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team took on Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Penn State Behrend on Saturday in Adler Arena, and the Lions were handed a tough 83-82 loss by Behrend in overtime.

Penn State Altoona (9-14, 8-8 AMCC) established a 42-36 lead by halftime, but Penn State Behrend (17-6, 12-4 AMCC) came back and built a seven-point advantage late in the second half. The Lions rallied to even the score 72-72 by the end of regulation to force overtime, but Behrend did enough to pull out a one-point victory in the extra period.

Jarrett Gardner (Live Oak, FL/Suwannee) had a career day in points and rebounds for Penn State Altoona, finishing with game-high totals of 22 points and 13 rebounds while also blocking two shots. Justin Sheetz (Eldersburg, MD/Liberty) followed with a total of 12 points, and Jahmar White (Yigo, Guam/St. Paul Christian School) put 11 points on the board.

Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) and Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley) tied with 10 points apiece for the Lions, with Jones also holding nine rebounds.

Behrend's Tommy DiRienzo and Michael Sopko led the way for the visitors with 16 points each.

Altoona was first to put points on the board with a pair of free throws from Gardner. Soon after Gardner followed with a layup, and White hit a three-pointer to give the Lions a 7-0 lead three minutes into the game. At the 16-minute mark, the Lions fell behind 10-9 to Behrend, and the visitors expanded their advantage to 19-10 by 11:59. After entering into the game, Abiah Charles (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) scored quickly for Penn State Altoona, making two baskets and a foul shot to bring the Lions to within four, 19-15. Michael Baskerville (Damascus, MD/Damascus) kept the difference at four, 21-17, as he made a layup at 10:11.

After another layup by Gardner, Braelen Cage (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) made a three-pointer to bring the game to a score of 23-22, and a layup from Charles pulled Penn State Altoona back into the lead, 24-23, at 6:55. Soon thereafter, Sheetz put up a three-pointer to give the Lions a 27-25 advantage, and Bush also landed a three-pointer to make it 30-25. Layups from Jones and Kevin Woodland, Jr. (Great Mills, MD/Great Mills) and another Sheetz three-pointer increased Penn State Altoona's lead to eight, 37-29, with 3:25 left in the half. After one more three-pointer from Bush, a Behrend foul gave White the opportunity to make two free throws, and Penn State Altoona took a 42-36 lead into the half.

Coming out of the half, Behrend put the first five points on the board before White scored a jump shot to end the early run. But the visitors outscored Penn State Altoona 10-2 early in the period to get ahead, 46-44, before Jones made a layup at 14:54 to tie the score at 46. Two layups from Gardner once again left the game tied, 50-50, by 11:38, but Behrend scored the next five points to go up by five. Bush was able to respond with a layup and Baskerville made a free throw to decrease the Behrend lead to 57-53, before Sheetz landed two free throws and Gardner made a layup to leave the Lions at a two-point deficit, 59-57. But Behrend again scored five straight points to create a seven-point lead, 64-57, with 5:37 remaining.

Four Gardner free throws and a Sheetz jumper were able to bring the Lions back to three points behind, 66-63, with 3:52 left. Foul shots from Jones and Bush got Penn State Altoona within one, and Jones' layup and free throw at 1:31 tied the game at 70-70. Behrend scored the go-ahead basket at 1:02, but Gardner answered with a layup 16 seconds later to even the score at 72-72. The teams went scoreless the rest of the way, and the game advanced to overtime.

Starting the overtime period, Gardner was able to make two layups to give the Lions the initial lead with 3:19 remaining. After a three-pointer from Behrend made it a one-point game, Sheetz helped strengthen Penn State Altoona's lead with a jump shot at 2:04 that made it 78-75. Behrend got four free throws to grab a brief 79-78 lead by 1:09, but White made two at the foul line to put Penn State Altoona back in front, 80-79, at the 57-second mark.

The teams traded baskets in their next possessions, with Charles making a jump shot with 34 seconds to go that put Penn State Altoona up, 82-81. But a DiRienzo jump shot gave Behrend an 83-82 lead with four seconds left, and the visitors ultimately escaped with a close win after a hard-fought game by both teams.

Next week, the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team will take on AMCC opponent Pitt-Bradford at home on Wednesday, February 14 at 7 p.m.