ALTOONA, Pa. – A dominant second half propelled the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team to an 88-72 victory over Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent La Roche University on Wednesday night in the Adler Arena.

Down 43-37 at the half, Penn State Altoona (6-1, 2-0 AMCC) put 51 points on the board during the second half, shooting 53.6 percent from the field and hitting 18-of-19 free throw attempts. The Lions' defense locked down during the period, limiting La Roche (1-5, 0-1 AMCC) to just 29 points on a 28.6 percent field goal percentage.

Penn State Altoona's win snaps a five-game losing streak to La Roche, the defending AMCC champions from 2019-20. It also extends the Lions' hot start to the season, improving the team to a program-best 6-1 record through its first seven games.

"It's been a great day for Penn State Altoona basketball. First, I have to recognize Cameron Gardner-Nicholson and Ishimeal Nance on being named to the AMCC's 25th anniversary team earlier today. Then, we were able to follow it up with a convincing win over a team that has dominated the conference for the last five years," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "La Roche is still one of the best teams in the league, and after falling behind in the first half, we were able to make some nice halftime adjustments and take care of business on both ends to right the ship and get a big win."

Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) contributed his first double-double of the season for Penn State Altoona, scoring a game-high 19 points and grabbing a team-leading 13 rebounds while adding three assists and two blocks. Alex McClellan (York, PA/West York) finished with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, and a block, while Saivon Word (Upper Marlboro, MD/Frederick Douglass) also scored 15 points to go along with a team-high five assists.

Varun Ajjarapu (Tampa, FL/Berkeley Prep) added 11 points and two steals, and Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge) scored nine points.

"It was great to see Druw get back to his double-double ways. He played great on both ends of the floor," said McGreal. "Our guard rotation was very good again with Varun, Alex, Robbie, and Saivon."

Isaiah Thomas paced La Roche with 15 points, while Jordan Grayson scored 13 points and secured a game-high 14 rebounds. Michael Brooks and Joe Pipilo added 10 points apiece.

After Penn State Altoona worked its way out to an early 11-8 lead, La Roche surged ahead on the back of a 18-3 run that was capped by back-to-back baskets from Grayson and Pipilo that gave the visitors a 26-14 advantage by the 10:59 mark.

Penn State Altoona came back to tie the score 30-30 on Word's layup at 6:31, and the Lions took a 33-32 lead just over a minute later when Dominic Frucella (Duncansville, PA/Hollidaysburg) connected on a three-pointer. But La Roche outscored Penn State Altoona 11-4 through the rest of the period, staking out a 43-37 lead by the intermission.

Things turned in Penn State Altoona's favor during the second half, when the Lions improved their execution on defense and capitalized on more offensive chances.

"The biggest difference was defensive adjustments in the second half and getting out on shooters better," McGreal stated. "We also cleaned up our rebounding and made free throws on the offensive end. Those things were all the difference."

Penn State Altoona narrowed its deficit to 47-46 on Ajjarapu's three-pointer at 15:41 of the second half, then took the lead on a pair of McClellan free throws at the 14:18 mark. Another three-pointer by Frucella increased the Lions' lead to 58-51 at 10:26, and foul shots by Ajjarapu and Word gave Penn State Altoona their first double-digit lead of the game, 62-51, with 9:06 to play.

Two minutes later, McClellan's three-pointer set Penn State Altoona's lead at 67-57, and two layups and two free throws by Harman made it 73-59 by 5:32. The Lions went on to boost their lead to as many as 21 points, when McClellan's basket at 2:54 gave the home team an 84-63 advantage.

Penn State Altoona finished the game with a big 34-7 scoring advantage over La Roche in fastbreak points, and the Lions also held statistical leads over the Redhawks in team field goal percentage (48.3 to 36.8 percent), points in the paint (40-36), and bench points (34-30).

Next, Penn State Altoona men's basketball continues AMCC play on the road this Saturday, December 4 at 4:00 p.m., when the Lions take on Medaille College.

"We keep talking about 'next level,' and one step is winning at home," said McGreal. "Now, we have to set our sights on Medaille at a place where we haven't won since I've been head coach here. This will be an important AMCC game on the road, and we look forward to the challenge."