PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team secured an important road win in Wednesday night's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Game of the Week, holding off conference foe La Roche University 96-87 at Coach Scott Lang Court.

The win helps Penn State Altoona (15-5, 10-2 AMCC) inch closer to the top spot in the AMCC standings, just behind first place Penn State Behrend and its 10-1 conference record.

Trailing 50-46 at halftime of Wednesday's game, the Lions continued what has become a theme of their success this season by bouncing back with a stifling defensive performance in the second half. After surrendering 50 first half points to La Roche (9-11, 6-5 AMCC), Penn State Altoona limited the Redhawks to 37 points on a 30.3 percent shooting performance during the second half.

"I could not be prouder of this team than I am now," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "I'm so proud of their ability to stay resilient after La Roche came out on fire from three in the first half, and then regroup at half and come out with our best defensive half of basketball this year."

Offensively, Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley) led the way for the Lions with a season-high 23 points and also recorded eight rebounds, two assists, and a block. PJ Charles (Altoona, PA/Altoona) registered his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds while dishing out three assists.

"We felt we had a distinct advantage inside and with our size," said McGreal. "PJ, Mason, and Jarrett Gardner all gave us great production down low."

Saivon Word (Upper Marlboro, MD/Frederick Douglass) added 18 points, eight boards, and a pair of assists for Penn State Altoona. Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) contributed 13 points, five rebounds, and two steals.

La Roche's scoring was paced by a game-high 28 points from Devon Darrell, and Desmond Ross put up 27 points for the Redhawks.

Penn State Altoona and La Roche battled through a fast-paced first half that saw Bush and Word combine for 30 of the Lions' 46 points and the Redhawks connect on 10-of-19 three-point shots, including a 6-for-8 showing from Ross.

Three early Charles layups and a basket from Word helped get Penn State Altoona out to an 8-2 advantage by 17:23. La Roche responded with a 9-0 run, capped by Joe Starzynski's three-pointer at 15:36 that put the Redhawks ahead, 11-8.

With the score tied 21-21 midway through the half, La Roche went on another run to secure a lead, this time outscoring Penn State Altoona 11-2 through 8:20 to go up 32-23. Three-pointers from Joe Pipilo and Ross inside the six-minute mark gave the Redhawks an eight-point advantage, 41-33, and Ross' trey at 3:50 gave La Roche what would be its largest lead of the night, 48-37.

Penn State Altoona regrouped to narrow its deficit to four by halftime. Free throws by Harman and Word brought the Lions to within seven, 48-41, by 2:47, and Word's layup and Bush's three-pointer cut La Roche's lead to 50-46 with 33 seconds remaining in the half. That score stood up for the rest of the period, and the teams went into the intermission divided by four points.

In the second half, Penn State Altoona's defense tightened up and its offense shot 55.6 percent from the field, helped by an improved transition game.

"We always feel our transition is key to us getting going, and I felt like we kept our foot on the gas, especially in the second half," said McGreal.

Word's three-pointer at 17:35 brought La Roche's lead down to one, and Bush's layup 23 seconds later put the Lions on top, 53-52. Over the next several minutes, two Harman foul shots, a Bush basket and free throws, and Jarrett Gardner's (Live Oak, FL/Suwannee) three-point play helped keep Penn State Altoona ahead by one, with Gardner's bucket and foul shot making it 62-61 at 13:21. Two minutes later, Charles' layup kept the difference at one point, 67-66.

Penn State Altoona began to pull away slightly a few minutes later, as Alex McClellan's (York, PA/West York) three-pointer, two buckets and a foul shot from Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge), and a pair of Charles free throws increased the Lions' advantage to 11 points, 85-74, with 5:51 to play. Harman's slam at 3:17 set his team's lead at 10, 89-79.

La Roche got back to within five points, 89-84, following three Pipilo free throws and two Darrell foul shots. But with a minute remaining, Harman combined for a layup and five free throws to help ice the win for Penn State Altoona.

The Lions finished the game with a 42-30 advantage in rebounds and a 46-28 advantage in points in the paint.

The victory is Penn State Altoona's first at La Roche since February 11, 2010.

"It felt great getting my first win at La Roche in my time here, but it will mean nothing if we don't come ready to play our last few games," said McGreal. "We now have to refocus on a good Alfred State team coming in here on Saturday on our senior day, and we need to keep this momentum going to continue to get better and reach our goal. Go Lions!"

Penn State Altoona men's basketball will host AMCC opponent Alfred State College in the Adler Arena this Saturday, February 5 at 4:00 p.m. Before the game, the team will recognize senior Dominic Frucella (Duncansville, PA/Hollidaysburg) as part of the program's Senior Day.