PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Despite a strong showing in Friday afternoon's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament semifinal game, the fourth seed Penn State Altoona men's basketball team suffered an 87-76 loss to first seed La Roche University in the Kerr Fitness and Sports Center.

The Lions (16-11) led for the majority of the first half, before a late push by La Roche (20-6) got the home team in front by halftime. Penn State Altoona kept things tight in the second half, but the Redhawks pulled away in the closing minutes to earn their third win over the Lions this season.

With the game's result, La Roche advances to the AMCC Championship tomorrow, Saturday, February 29 at 1:00 p.m. against the winner of today's contest between two seed Pitt-Greensburg and three seed Penn State Behrend. Meanwhile, Penn State Altoona is eliminated from the tournament, and the Lions will hope to pick up a berth into the Eastern College Athletic Conference's Division III Championship Tournament next week.

"It is an unfortunate result for us today. I feel we played very well against the best team in the league at their place and really gave them a scare, but in the end, their experience in big games over the past few years was the difference in my eyes, especially down the stretch," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "We broke down a couple times down the stretch defensively, and they made us pay. It has been an historic season for us, and hopefully one that's not over yet, but we would have liked to pull this one out."

Jack Kusters (Quakertown, PA/Lansdale Catholic) put up a career-high 29 points for Penn State Altoona, hitting a game-high 11 shots on 20 attempts from the floor. He also added three rebounds and a pair of assists.

Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) scored 17 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge) added 13 points, a team-high three steals, and two assists.

Cameron Gardner-Nicholson (Philadelphia, PA/Boys' Latin Charter) chipped in eight points and led the Lions with seven rebounds and two blocks. Austin Krise (Allport, PA/West Branch) had a team-best five assists, and he also finished with five points and three boards. Trey Butterworth (Clarence, PA/Bald Eagle) distributed three assists.

"Great efforts by multiple players today, led by Jack and Druw. Aus had a great defensive game, but unfortunately didn't get more opportunities on offense. Robbie had some big moments off the bench," McGreal said. "In the end, we learned a lot today, and hopefully it will help us if we get the ECAC bid to compete for an ECAC crown."

La Roche got 21 points from Darius Lawrence, while Tyler Frederick accumulated 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Austin Hannes scored 14 points for the Redhawks, and Darrell Barron added 10 points off the bench.

Penn State Altoona led for most of the first half, helped by a 51.5 percent shooting performance from the floor. Kusters led the way with 17 points for the Lions during the period.

Kusters' trey and layups from Harman and Krise helped Penn State Altoona get out to a 7-6 lead just over three minutes into the game. A Harman three-pointer, as well as two three-pointers from Hicks, kept the score tied 16-16 with 12:25 on the clock, and Kusters hit another triple at 11:18 to put the Lions up, 19-16.

A pair of two-point jump shots by Kusters, along with a Gardner-Nicholson layup, boosted Penn State Altoona's lead to 25-20 by the 8:20 mark. Nate Gillen's (Johnstown, PA/Central Cambria) basket at 6:24 kept his team up by four, and another Kusters three-pointer 15 seconds later made it 30-25. Kusters and Gardner-Nicholson each contributed two layups over the next two minutes to keep Penn State Altoona up by five, 38-33.

But after Harman's jumper put the Lions' lead at 40-37 at the 2:15 mark, the Redhawks ended the first half on a 6-0 run to go into the locker room up by three. After two Luke McDonough free throws cut Penn State Altoona's lead to one, Frederick's bucket at 1:11 put La Roche in front, 41-40. Frederick converted on an alley-oop dunk in transition just before the buzzer, and the Redhawks led 43-40 at the break.

La Roche carried its momentum into the second half, outscoring Penn State Altoona 9-2 in the first three-and-a-half minutes. Baskets from Kennedy Smith, Lawrence, and Hannes made it 49-42, and Lawrence's three-pointer at 16:23 put La Roche up by 10, 52-42.

Three baskets from Harman, including a dunk, and a layup from Clevon Scott (Raeford, NC/Hoke County) got Penn State Altoona back to within four, 54-50, by the 13:56 mark. Kusters' jumper at 12:19 made it a three-point game, and Hicks connected from beyond the arc at 10:48 to cut La Roche's advantage to just two points, 59-57.

Kusters hit from three-point range again at 10:05 to keep his team within two, and he sank a pair of foul shots at 8:54 to stay within a basket of La Roche, 64-62. Two minutes later, Hicks made two free throws to hold the score differential at two, 68-66.

La Roche began to create some separation on the scoreboard, however. Barron's three-pointer at 5:42 gave the Redhawks a seven-point lead, and Frederick's three-pointer at 4:09 made it an eight-point game. Barron's layup at the 3:23 mark put La Roche up by 10 points, 81-71.

Kusters nailed his fifth three-pointer of the day at 1:54 to make it a seven-point game again, but La Roche got two of those points back on Lawrence free throws. Smith's steal and fastbreak dunk with 29 seconds to play gave the Redhawks an 87-76 lead, sealing the conference championship berth for La Roche.

Now, the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team will hope for the continuation of its season with a potential ECAC Division III Tournament bid. The ECAC will announce its postseason field on Monday afternoon, following the completion of the NCAA Division III Tournament selection process.

Should the Lions receive a berth into the ECAC postseason, the team would play a first round game on Wednesday, March 4.