YORK, Pa. – Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley) scored a career-high 29 points on Tuesday night for the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team, but the Lions took an 81-69 loss against non-conference opponent York College in the Wolf Gym.

York (4-6) powered its way out to a 20-point lead late in the first half, but Penn State Altoona (3-6) rallied to overcome its deficit and jump ahead in the second half. However, the Spartans reestablished their advantage and held off the Lions the rest of the way.

"Tough loss. York really exploited us, especially in the first half," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "Very proud of how we fought hard being down 20 at one point to take the lead. But, in the end, when you have to expend a lot of energy to come back, sometimes you run out of gas, and that's what we did."

The Lions' Bush led all scorers with 29 points while going 10-for-17 overall from the field, including a 5-for-9 performance from beyond the three-point line. Saivon Word (Upper Marlboro, MD/Frederick Douglass) added 15 points and a game-high six steals, and Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with seven points and a team-best five assists.

York was led in scoring by Kai Cipalla, who put up 24 points. Jayden Rowe finished with 17 points and eight assists, and Jackson Mascari scored 13 points while securing seven boards.

Penn State Altoona scored the game's first five points, thanks to Bush's layup and three-pointer within the opening minute, but York leapt ahead on a 13-4 run over the next five minutes. Another three-pointer from Bush at 13:05 put the Lions back in front, 14-13, and Harman's layup at 11:36 made it 16-13. But York outscored Penn State Altoona 26-3 through the 5:06 mark, when Cipalla's dunk gave the Spartans a 39-19 advantage, which would represent their biggest lead of the night.

Penn State Altoona used the latter stages of the period to whittle away at its deficit, lowering it to 10 points by the intermission. Still trailing by 20 with 1:43 remaining, the Lions ended the half on a 10-0 run that consisted of two Bush treys and layups from Bush and Word that decreased the York lead to 43-33 at halftime.

Penn State Altoona kept riding its momentum early in the second half to reclaim the lead. Baskets from Alex McClellan (York, PA/West York) and Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) cut the deficit to eight points less than three minutes into the period, and Bush's layup got his team to within six points, 45-39, by 16:40. Bush connected again from three-point range 35 seconds later to make it a three-point game, and after a pair of McClellan free throws, Word's layup at 15:12 put the Lions in front, 46-45.

Shortly thereafter, York jumped back into the lead, but Penn State Altoona kept things close over the next several minutes. Word's layup at 13:40 put the Lions within one, 49-48, and a McClellan foul shot at 9:17 kept the difference at three, 57-54. Robbie Hicks (Melbourne, FL/Rockledge) hit a three-pointer at 8:24 to put Penn State Altoona four points from the York lead, 61-57.

But York held its ground while slowly widening the gap over the rest of the half. Rowe's layup and foul shot at 3:34 boosted the Spartans' lead back into double digits, 75-64, and Penn State Altoona got no closer than 10 points the rest of the period.

Throughout the game, Penn State Altoona's comeback efforts were hampered by a 39.1 percent field goal percentage as a team.

"At the end of the day, we have to get some guys healthy and shoot the basketball better from all levels," said McGreal. "We're not beating anyone shooting the way we are."

Penn State Altoona men's basketball rounds out its 2022-23 non-conference schedule with one more contest, as the Lions will travel to Oberlin, Ohio on Friday, December 30 to face Oberlin College at 5:00 p.m. After that, Penn State Altoona will dive into its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference schedule, beginning with a home game against Alfred State College on Wednesday, January 4 at 2:00 p.m.