No. 3 Penn State Altoona and No. 5 La Roche University each victories in the First Round of the AMCC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament on Tuesday night to advance to the Semifinal Round. The Altoona Lions recorded a 95-88 win over No. 6 Hilbert College, while the Redhawks earned the 63-59 upset victory over No. 4 Penn State Behrend.
Penn State Altoona 95, Hilbert 88
Penn State Altoona edged Hilbert 95-88 in men's basketball first round action Tuesday night to advance to the semifinal round of the AMCC men's basketball tournament. The game saw eight ties and 10 lead changes as the Lions held on for the seven point victory.
Penn State Altoona was led by Nehemiah Frye who poured in a game-high 36 points to go with eight rebounds. Kaden Claar added 21 points and seven rebounds, while Dwayne Jones had 18 for the Lions.
The Lions will face No. 2 Pitt-Greensburg on Friday night in the semifinal round. Game time is slated for 8:00pm at Pitt-Bradford's KOA Arena.
La Roche 63, Penn State Behrend 59
The La Roche men's basketball team was able to get past La Roche in the first round of the AMCC Men's Basketball Tournament, edging the Lions by a score of 63-59 on Wednesday night. As expected, it was a back-and-forth affair the entire game between the Redhawks and Lions. The first half saw seven lead changes and four ties, but with two minutes left in the half, La Roche grabbed its biggest lead of six (31-25) with three straight baskets. However, a Behrend three-pointer right before the buzzer only put the Lions down by two going into halftime (33-31). La Roche's Isaiah Thomas led all scorers with nine points in the first 20 minutes.
The second half was similar to the first with four more lead changes and one tie. A Behrend layup with 10:47 on the clock gave Behrend one-point advantage (41-42), but the Redhawks would go on a 9-2 run over the next two minutes to retake the lead (50-44). La Roche took its biggest lead of the night of nine, thanks to a turnaround jumper from Bryce Epps with four minutes left. The Redhawks would seal their first round win with free throws down the stretch to advance to Friday's semifinal game.
Thomas led La Roche with 18 points, while Epps (14 points), Michael Brooks (11 points), and Joe Starzynski (10 points) all had double-digit scoring efforts. Behrend's Matthew McDonough recorded a game-high 18 points to go along with three rebounds.
La Roche advances to the AMCC semifinals on Friday night and will be facing No. 1 Pitt-Bradford. Game time is set for 6:00pm at Bradford's KOA Arena.