Lions Downed 83-63 by La Roche
ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's basketball was bested 83-63 by Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent La Roche University on Wednesday evening in the Adler Arena.
The Lions (10-5, 6-5 AMCC) struggled to overcome mistakes at both ends of the court, never finding their rhythm on either offense or defense throughout the game.
"We got beat by the better team tonight. We didn't stick to our game plan defensively, and we really struggled on offense – especially in the first half," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "Too many missed layups, too many turnovers, and too many bad decisions."
Jack Kusters (Quakertown, PA/Lansdale Catholic) scored a team-high 15 points for Penn State Altoona. Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) added 12 points and led his team with nine rebounds and three blocks, while Cameron Gardner-Nicholson (Philadelphia, PA/Boys' Latin Charter) scored 10 points, grabbed three rebounds, and tied for the team-high in steals with two.
Austin Krise (Allport, PA/West Branch) and Trevor Hunter (Baltimore, MD/New Town) chipped in five points apiece, with Krise recording four rebounds and a team-high three assists and Hunter picking up two steals.
La Roche (11-6, 11-1 AMCC) had six players finish in double figures, led by Darius Lawrence's 16-point effort. Tyler Frederick scored 15 points to go along with eight rebounds, and Kennedy Smith had 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and five steals.
The game got off to a sloppy start, with both teams combining for just seven points through the opening five minutes, as La Roche worked its way to a 6-1 advantage.
Baskets from Krise and Kusters, along with Harman's three-pointer, helped the Lions cut La Roche's lead to 10-8 by 11:03. Gardner-Nicholson's layup at 7:52 kept the point difference at two, 15-13.
But La Roche began to expand its lead over the next several minutes, highlighted by a trio of three-pointers from Joe Pipilo that helped the Redhawks boost their advantage to 28-19 by 3:28. Lawrence's layup and foul shot at 3:10 tacked three more points onto La Roche's total, and baskets from Smith, Luke McDonough, and Austin Hannes helped the visitors to a 37-23 halftime lead.
Penn State Altoona hung around into the middle stages of the second half. Harman's soaring dunk preceded a layup from Gardner-Nicholson that kept the Lions within 12 points of La Roche, 44-32, by 17:13.
After La Roche boosted its lead to 21 points, 59-38, by the 11:34 mark, the Lions used a 9-2 run to narrow their deficit to 61-47 with 8:14 remaining in the game. Trey Butterworth (Clarence, PA/Bald Eagle) started the run with a three-pointer, and Penn State Altoona got three free throws and a layup from Harman, along with one free throw from Gardner-Nicholson, during that span.
But La Roche responded with a game-clinching 13-0 run that included three-pointers from Lawrence, Hannes, and Frederick, and the Redhawks secured their largest lead of the game, 74-47, with 5:35 on the clock.
Next, Penn State Altoona men's basketball will look to regroup for an AMCC game on the road this Saturday, January 25, when the Lions will travel to Buffalo to play D'Youville College at 1:00 p.m.
"We've got to put this one behind us and prepare for D'Youville and get back on track," said McGreal.
