ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team improved to 5-1 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference on Saturday afternoon, when the Lions posted a 65-59 victory over league opponent Penn State Behrend in the Junker Center.

Penn State Altoona's (9-7, 5-1 AMCC) victory was keyed by a second-half defensive effort that limited Penn State Behrend (8-9, 3-3 AMCC) to just 23 points and a 24.3 percent field goal percentage, including holding the home team to a 1-for-16 performance from beyond the arc during the period. The win is the Lions' fourth in a row and sixth in their last seven games, and it is also the team's first-ever victory over Behrend in Erie.

"I'm so excited for this team and our entire program. It's our first win at Erie since we became an NCAA Division III team, and I've personally gone 0-6 in Junker. To get that monkey off our backs was very special and shows that we are starting to show the promise we had coming into the season," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "The most gratifying part is that we won this game with our defense. We switched up from man to zone, and it really threw them off. Also, after having a great start, we weathered a big storm and dug in and found a way to win. It shows that this team is growing and peaking at the right time"

Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) had 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists for Penn State Altoona, while Robbie Hicks (Melbourne, FL/Rockledge) also scored 13 points. Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley) contributed 12 points and nine rebounds for the Lions, and Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds while scoring 11 points for his fourth double-double of the year.

Saivon Word (Upper Marlboro, MD/Frederick Douglass) chipped in eight points and six boards for the Lions, and Jahmar White (Yigo, Guam/St. Paul Christian School) scored six points off the bench.

Stefan Milinkovic led Behrend with a game-high 18 points while also securing 13 rebounds. Tommy DiRienzo finished with 17 points and nine boards.

Penn State Altoona flew out to an 11-0 lead after the first four minutes of play. Hicks' layup and Harman's three-pointer started the scoring, before back-to-back buckets from Bush and a layup by Word gave the Lions a double-digit lead out of the gate.

Behrend responded by going on a 17-5 run over the next six minutes, capped by two Austin Ryan three-pointers that put the home team up 17-16. Later, a Matthew McDonough three-pointer broke a 29-29 tie to put Behrend up by three at the 3:46 mark, and two Milinkovic baskets helped increase its lead to seven, 36-29.

Penn State Altoona cut into its deficit shortly before the break, getting a pair of jump shots from Word that brought the Lions to within three, 36-33, by halftime.

Behrend boosted its lead back to five early in the second half, thanks to a pair of Milinkovic layups that made it 40-35. DiRienzo's layup at 17:06 put his team up by four, 42-38.

But, after several minutes of back-and-forth scoring, Penn State Altoona went ahead for good at 8:44, when Harman's layup put the Lions on top 49-48. A jumper from White and three-pointer from Hicks made it 56-48 by 6:35, and another jump shot by Hicks at 4:54 put his team's advantage at 58-50.

Behrend closed the gap to four, following two DiRienzo free throws with 3:19 to go. But Harman responded with a three-pointer 10 seconds after that, and two foul shots by Bush with 2:40 to play made it 63-54.

Behrend again made it a four-point game, after an RJ Marsh three-pointer with 32 seconds remaining cut the Lions' lead to 63-59. But Penn State Altoona held the home team scoreless in their closing possessions while tacking on two more points, courtesy of two Jones free throws.

Penn State Altoona finished its day with a strong rebounding edge over Behrend, outrebounding their AMCC opponents by a 47-35 margin that included 20 offensive boards.

Next up, the Lions will turn their focus to another big conference road game, as Penn State Altoona will head to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, January 25 to face La Roche University at 7:00 p.m.

"Now, we have to refocus and get ready for the league leader at their place on Wednesday," said McGreal.