ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team used a well-rounded performance to defeat nearby non-conference foe Juniata College on Tuesday night in Adler Arena, as the Lions defeated the Eagles 77-64.

Offensively, the Lions (2-3) used a steady dose of inside scoring, running up a 46-26 advantage over Juniata (2-3) in points in the paint. At the defensive end, Penn State Altoona limited the Eagles to a 38.5 percent field goal percentage while forcing 19 turnovers.

"I'm really proud of our effort tonight against Juniata, a very good team that's very well coached," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "Being able to play a very good, 40-minute game against a quality opponent such as Juniata shows that this group is now trending in the right direction."

PJ Charles (Altoona, PA/Altoona) totaled a game-high 15 points for Penn State Altoona while securing a team-best nine rebounds. Saivon Word (Upper Marlboro, MD/Frederick Douglass) notched 14 points, four rebounds, a game-high four assists, and three steals.

Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) added 13 points and four rebounds, and Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) scored 11 points, grabbed six boards, and blocked a game-high five shots. Alex McClellan (York, PA/West York) had a team-high four steals to go along with nine points and six rebounds.

Juniata got 13 points from Gabe Guidinger and 10 points from Tyler Lapetina. Chase Husted recorded a game-high 12 rebounds for the Eagles.

After a slow start for both teams, Penn State Altoona began to build a strong lead midway through the first half. Word's three-pointer at 14:05 put the Lions up 11-6, and a Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge) layup at 12:15 made it a six-point game, 15-9. A pair of free throws from Charles and a layup from Word extended Penn State Altoona's lead to nine points, 20-11, by the 7:57 mark.

Juniata began to pick up steam late in the period, however, thanks to success from beyond the arc. Three-pointers on consecutive possessions by Evan Eisenhart and Guidinger cut the Lions' lead to 23-17, and another Eisenhart trey narrowed Penn State Altoona's advantage to 25-22 by 5:57. Back-to-back threes from Michael Montecalvo and Kyle Ruggery tied the score 30-30 with 3:36 remaining in the half.

Jones converted a three-point play at the 2:44 mark to put Penn State Altoona back in front, but later, a buzzer-beating putback by Juniata's Ross Conway gave the Eagles a 39-38 lead heading into halftime.

Much of the second half was tightly played, with the Lions earning a modest lead and Juniata coming back to even the score and jump in front briefly. Layups from Jones and Jarrett Gardner (Live Oak, FL/Suwannee) put Penn State Altoona up by three, 51-48, just over seven minutes into the period. Baskets from Hicks and Jones helped their team to a six-point lead just past the halfway mark. But a three-pointer from Lapetina tied the score 58-58, and a Mason Hardy layup gave Juniata a 60-58 advantage at 7:19.

However, Penn State Altoona worked its way back in front and pulled away for good. Layups from Charles and Word got the Lions ahead, and Jones' dunk off of a steal made it 64-60 at 6:03. Another Jones slam made it a five-point lead, and Harman's three-pointer at 2:15 put his team up 72-64. Harman's layup at the 1:49 mark gave the Lions their first double-digit lead of the night, 74-64, and the team added a McClellan free throw and Hicks layup within the closing minutes to finish with a 13-point victory.

"In the first half, we got off our game plan and allowed too many open threes, which made us pay. In the second half, we got out on their shooters a little bit more to make shots more difficult for them, which enabled us to build a lead," McGreal explained. "Everybody who played tonight gave maximum effort and contributed to this win. That's what's going to need to happen in order for us to reach the goals we have set for ourselves this season."

Now, the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team will break for Thanksgiving, and the Lions will return to action with a road game this Sunday, November 27 at 2:00 p.m. against non-conference opponent Salisbury University.

"The turkey is going to taste really good Thursday now," said McGreal. "Then we'll get back to work to prepare for the first of back-to-back really tough road opponents, starting with Salisbury."