ERIE, Pa. – In the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Game of the Week, the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team was handed a 71-58 loss by Penn State Behrend on Saturday afternoon in the Junker Center.

Penn State Altoona (14-8, 10-7 AMCC) was limited to a season-low 58 points by Behrend (16-7, 13-5 AMCC), as the Lions suffered from uneven play at both ends of the court.

"Disappointed in our ability to put it all together for 40 minutes today. We had our opportunities, we just had too many boneheaded plays and turnovers when, if we just did the simple things, we would have converted," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "Multiple times in the second half, we had chances to tie or take the lead, and we just let those opportunities slip by, and they made us pay."

Searching for their first-ever win in Erie, the Lions were unable to pull off the season sweep of Behrend after defeating their Penn State counterparts earlier this season in Altoona.

"They played harder than us in crunch time, and we gave up on our game plan, especially defensively," McGreal said. "They shot the lights out in the first half, which was something they haven't done in the last few games. In the second half, we limited that, but allowed way too many easy ones in the paint."

Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge) scored a team-high 14 points for the Lions, while Austin Krise (Allport, PA/West Branch) added 13 points, eight rebounds, and tied the game-high for steals with five. Cameron Gardner-Nicholson (Philadelphia, PA/Boys' Latin Charter) finished with 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Behrend got 16 points from Dorian Connors, and Mitchell King added 15 points.

Penn State Altoona men's basketball has three more AMCC regular season games on its schedule, each of which will be very significant in terms of conference tournament implications. Two of those three games are at home, starting with the Lions hosting AMCC opponent Franciscan University in the Adler Arena this Monday, February 17 at 6:00 p.m.

"We have to regroup fast and get ready for the final three games," said McGreal. "We need two of them for sure. We hope to get a good crowd on Monday. We need all the support we can get."