ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team came out on the losing end of a tightly-contested game against Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent La Roche University on Wednesday night in the Adler Arena, losing 86-81 to the Redhawks.

For Penn State Altoona (15-8, 11-2 AMCC), the loss means that the Lions will travel for the upcoming AMCC Tournament. Penn State Altoona locks up the number two seed, earning a first-round bye and playing the winner of next Tuesday's game between Hilbert College and either Penn State Behrend or Pitt-Bradford, depending on this Saturday's results. The Lions' first game in the tournament will be next Friday, February 24 at 2:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, La Roche (17-7, 12-1 AMCC) gets the number one seed and will host the semifinal and championship rounds of the AMCC Tournament on its home court next Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25.

Wednesday's game featured 10 lead changes and eight ties, with neither team leading by more than 11 points. La Roche jumped out to an early advantage, before Penn State Altoona fought back and kept things close. But the Redhawks pulled away late to snap the Lions' 10-game winning streak and hand Penn State Altoona its first home loss since the season opener, November 8.

"Hats off to Coach [Hermie] Carmichael and the Redhawks. They came in and were ready to play tonight," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "It feels like, for the first time in a long time, our offense let us down, missing layups and taking bad shots. When we aren't scoring, our defense suffers. We had plenty of opportunities in the second half when we took the lead a couple different times, but every time we got a good stop, we wouldn't convert on offense. Vice versa, when we'd make a run offensively, we couldn't get back-to-back stops to save our lives."

Saivon Word (Upper Marlboro, MD/Frederick Douglass) led Penn State Altoona in scoring, tying for the game-high in points with 18, including going 4-for-7 from three-point range. Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) finished with 16 points, tied for the team lead in rebounds with eight, and dished out a game-high six assists.

Dwayne Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Greater Johnstown) added 11 points and eight boards. Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley), PJ Charles (Altoona, PA/Altoona), and Alex McClellan (York, PA/West York) each contributed nine points, with Bush grabbing seven rebounds, Charles recording six boards and three assists, and McClellan totaling three steals.

For La Roche, Michael Brooks and Jordan Grayson led the way with 18 points apiece. Devon Darrell had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Isaiah Thomas scored 12 points.

La Roche worked its way out to leads of 11-6 and 16-10 over the first five minutes of the game. But Penn State Altoona closed the gap to 20-19 on a Jones three-pointer at 9:57, and Word's jumper at 7:12 kept the difference at one, 22-21. A minute later, Bush's layup gave Penn State Altoona a 23-22 advantage, and a pair of Harman free throws at 4:55 made it 25-24.

Layups by Darrell and Starzynski put La Roche back in front, 28-25, but a Jones foul shot preceded a pair of baskets from McClellan that put the Lions up 30-28 by the 1:51 mark. The Redhawks reclaimed the lead, however, and went into halftime with a 34-32 advantage following a late layup from Starzynski.

Penn State Altoona came out hot early in the second half, outscoring the Redhawks 18-10 over the first 5:18 of the period to go up by six. Threes from Harman and Word helped even the score at 41-41, and Harman's jumper broke the tie in favor of the Lions in the next possession. Another trey and layup by Word gave his team a 48-44 advantage, and a Robbie Hicks (Melbourne, FL/Rockledge) basket at 14:42 extended the lead to 50-44.

La Roche whittled away at its deficit over the next several minutes and eventually went up 59-57 on Brooks' three-pointer at 10:43. Joe Pipilo's layup and foul shot at 8:53 helped the Redhawks to a six-point advantage, 64-58, and three-pointers from Desmond Ross and Brooks made it 72-64 by the 4:34 mark. Darrell's layup at 3:15 put La Roche up by 10 points, 74-64.

Penn State Altoona got to within seven, 77-70, after a pair of three-pointers from Bush. But La Roche was able to get buckets from Brooks and Darrell to boost its lead to 81-70 with 1:11 to play, and the visitors did enough in the final minute to fend off a late push by the Lions.

"It seemed like La Roche was quicker to the ball down the stretch in the second half," said McGreal. "When there were plays we needed to make to put ourselves in position to win, it seemed like we were always half a step too slow."

Now, Penn State Altoona will close its regular season schedule on the road this Saturday, February 18, when the Lions will head north to take on AMCC opponent Pitt-Bradford at 2:00 p.m. After that, the team will turn its focus to the AMCC postseason next week.

"I'm still very, very proud of what this team has accomplished so far, including setting a new program-record winning streak, and the best AMCC record in school history is still on the line, but we've got to get back to playing team basketball at both ends of the floor," said McGreal. "We've proven we can beat any team in the league, home or away, so while losing home court advantage stings a lot, our ultimate goal is still to come home with a tournament championship next week."