HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's basketball improved to 2-0 on Saturday afternoon, winning 67-65 over regional non-conference foe Juniata College at the Memorial Gymnasium.

The Lions (2-0) overcame a halftime deficit, secured the lead in the second half, and then held off Juniata (0-1) in the closing minutes to clinch the win. The contest was tightly-contested throughout with 17 lead changes.

"Very proud of this team for staying resilient and grinding out a hard-fought win on the road against a quality team in Juniata," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "It's always nice when we are able to win these types of low-scoring games, because in the past, we've struggled against teams like Juniata."

Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge) scored a game-high 19 points for Penn State Altoona, going 8-for-14 from the field, including a 3-for-5 success rate from three-point range. Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) added 13 points on a 6-for-8 shooting performance to go along with three assists and two blocks, and Varun Ajjarapu (Tampa, FL/Berkeley Prep) scored 14 points while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.

Saivon Word (Upper Marlboro, MD/Frederick Douglass) dished out a team-leading five assists. Ajjarapu, Hicks, and Alex McClellan (York, PA/West York) each finished with three steals, with McClellan also scoring nine points on a trio of three-pointers.

"Big game for Robbie, especially the final go-ahead basket, and Druw, Varun, and Saivon made huge plays down the stretch to close out the win," McGreal stated. "Alex didn't have his best shooting game, but he made a steal at the end of the game to seal it."

Juniata got 14 points and seven rebounds apiece from Evan Eisenhart and Chase Husted.

After Juniata got out to an early 4-0 lead, Penn State Altoona used three-pointers from Hicks and McClellan to eventually tie the score 6-6, and Hicks' jumper and Y'shua Bragg's (Pittsburgh, PA/Carrick) layup and foul shot put the Lions up 11-6 at the 15-minute mark. The Eagles reclaimed their lead over the next several minutes, but three balls by Ajjarapu and McClellan brought Penn State Altoona back in front, 24-22, by 8:04. Harman's dunk at 5:40 helped his team to a one-point lead, 28-27.

However, Juniata got a late three-pointer from Michael Montecalvo and a last-second jumper from Husted to establish a 37-32 advantage by halftime.

Penn State Altoona was able to come back from its five-point halftime deficit by shooting 48.1 percent from the floor during the second half, including going 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.

"In the second half, we started taking better shots and rebounding the ball better, which made a difference," said McGreal.

Hicks' bucket and McClellan's three-pointer early in the period knotted the score at 40, and later, Ajjarapu's three-pointer and PJ Charles' (Altoona, PA/Altoona) layup put the Lions up 49-47 at 9:23. Juniata worked to tie the score 54-54, but Harman's basket and foul shot at 6:10 put Penn State Altoona back in front, 57-54.

The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes and found the score tied 63-63 following Harman's layup at 1:27. Following a hold by the Lions' defense, Hicks hit a three-pointer from the corner with 57 seconds left to provide the go-ahead basket, putting Penn State Altoona in the lead for good, 66-63. Eisenhart's layup with 31 seconds to go brought the difference back to one, but Ajjarapu tacked a free throw on to the Lions' total and Penn State Altoona's defense kept the Eagles off of the scoreboard over the final 30 seconds to hold on for the victory, including McClellan's steal with one second remaining.

Saturday's win is believed to be Penn State Altoona men's basketball's first win at Juniata since the 2000-01 season, and it is the Lions' fourth-ever victory over the Eagles, home or away.

Next up, Penn State Altoona will travel to Washington County on Tuesday, November 16 to face non-conference opponent Washington & Jefferson College. Tip-off has been set for 7:00 p.m.

"Now, it's on to W&J and former Lion [current W&J head coach] Ethan Stewart-Smith, who has led his team to a great start," said McGreal. "We don't get to enjoy this one long. Go Lions!"