by McKenzie Quirin

ALFRED, N.Y. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team's 2023-24 postseason came to an end on Tuesday night at the Orvis Activities Center, when the No. 6 seed Lions suffered a 100-72 loss to No. 3 seed Alfred State College in the first round of this week's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championship Tournament.

Alfred State (15-11) advances to face No. 2 Penn State Behrend in the conference's semifinal round on Friday, February 23 at 8 p.m., while Penn State Altoona (10-16) is eliminated from the tournament.

Despite battling with Alfred State in a close game for much of the night, Penn State Altoona could not keep pace with the Pioneers to secure the win. The Lions trailed 44-40 at the break and worked their way back to tie the score at 51-51 at 15:32 of the second half, but Alfred State outscored Penn State Altoona 49-21 the rest of the way to win by 28.

Out of the 13 Penn State Altoona players to receive minutes during the loss, two starters and two reserves led the Lions in double-digit points. Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley) led in points for the Lions with 16 to go along with seven rebounds and one block. After the game, was named to the AMCC All-Tournament team.

Justin Sheetz (Eldersburg, MD/Liberty) ended the night with 14 points, one rebound, one assist and two steals, while Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) and Jahmar White (Yigo, Guam/St. Paul Christian School) added 10 points apiece for Penn State Altoona. Jones also contributed 15 rebounds, his third-highest total of rebounds this season, to record his 10th double-double of the year.

For Alfred State, Cody Schneider scored 25 out of the team's 100 points while adding five rebounds, four assists and six steals. Dylan Perry added 21 points, and Ryan Rosa ended his team's win with 16 points. Paris Jamison finished with 15 points.

The Pioneers got the game's scoring started early when Schneider put in a layup to give Alfred State a 2-0 lead. 40 seconds later, Schneider posted a three-pointer to extend the Pioneers' lead to 5-0, although Penn State Altoona cut their deficit to three shortly after, as Bush put in a layup. Alfred State remained in front, leading 6-2, when Rosa made a free throw to add a point. Despite the Pioneers' lead, the Lions' Alex McClellan (York, PA/West York) managed to put in an important three-pointer following a rebound from Jones to cut the deficit to one, down 6-5. Penn State Altoona took the lead, 7-6, when Jarrett Gardner (Live Oak, FL/Suwannee) netted a layup.

In the next 3:43, Alfred State combined for six points, with three points coming from another Schneider three-pointer, plus a Rosa jump shot and a free throw from Jamison. Soon after, Michael Baskerville (Damascus, MD/Damascus) put in a layup to get the Lions within three, and White nailed a three-pointer to tie the game up at 12. The Pioneers regained the lead after Schneider put in two points from a layup. A jump shot from White and a layup from Sheetz gave Penn State Altoona a 16-15 lead. After a Jamison foul shot tied the score at 16 at the 12-minute mark, Alfred State outscored the Lions 10-6 in the next 2:48 to take a 26-22 lead.

Abiah Charles (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) put in his first three-pointer of the game to cut the Lions' deficit to one, down 26-25 with less than 10 minutes to go in the first half. More back-and-forth action put the Pioneers on top, up 34-30. Two layups from Jones and a free throw from McClellan allowed Penn State Altoona to regain a one-point lead, 35-34, with 4:41 left to go until halftime. Bush put in a three-pointer to extend the Lions' lead to 38-34 at the 2:50 mark, but Alfred State finished the first half up 44-40.

A minute and 12 seconds went by until the Pioneers' Michael Miller got the first score of the second half from a pair of free throws, as Alfred State increased Penn State Altoona's deficit to six. Another Schneider three-pointer and a Jamison layup boosted the Pioneers' advantage to nine points, 51-42, by 17:39.

Penn State Altoona pushed back to knot the score at 51 over the next minute. A Sheetz layup, Jones dunk, and two Gardner free throws made it a three-point game, and White's three-pointer capped the Lions' 9-0 run at 15:32, evening the score at 51-51. But Alfred State responded with a 12-0 run and steadily grew its lead over the rest of the half.

Down 74-55 with under 10 minutes to go, Penn State Altoona got two baskets from Bush, a three-pointer from Sheetz, and a jump shot by Charles to narrow its deficit to 16 points, 80-64. But Penn State Altoona did not get any closer the rest of the way, and the Pioneers won the game with 100 points to the Lions' 72.