Second Half Comeback By Behrend Comes Up Short At Altoona

ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team came up just a bit short at Penn State Altoona Wednesday evening by a score of 78-76.

Score: Penn State Altoona 78, Penn State Behrend 76
Records: Penn State Altoona (7-6, 3-1 AMCC), Penn State Behrend (7-6­, 2-2 AMCC)

Key Moments:

* Most of the first half on Wednesday was back-and-forth with neither team able to get more than a four-point advantage
* Altoona took its largest lead of 10 (31-21) in the first half on a Kaden Claar three pointer to force a Behrend timeout with 4:21 left in the half
* Penn State Altoona went into the locker with a 36-29 advantage and were led by Claar's nine points
* Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) recorded nine points for Behrend in the first 20 minutes
* A Matthew McDonough (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) triple cut Behrend's deficit to four (38-34) early in the second half
* Altoona extended its lead back to seven (46-39) with 15:05 on the clock
* Three straight baskets by Behrend with back-to-back three pointers by DiRienzo and Isaac DeGregorio (Allison Park, PA/North Catholic) and a driving layup by McDonough made it a one-point game (48-47) with 13 minutes remaining
* Behrend grabbed its first lead since early in the first half (54-53) on a Michael Sopko (New Castle, PA/Neshannock) basket from beyond the arc
* However, Altoona jumped back out to an eight-point advantage that was capped off by a jumper from Abiah Charles with 6:12 left
* Behrend once again chipped away at the deficit, cutting it to one (70-69) on a three-pointer by Nate Edwards (Girard, PA/Girard)
* With under a minute left in regulation, Altoona controlled a five-point lead (76-71)
* A layup by DiRienzo and steal off an inbounds pass leading to another two points by Behrend gave Altoona only a one-point advantage (76-75) with 20 seconds remaining
* DiRienzo took a three at the buzzer to win it for Behrend, but the shot fell just short and Altoona secured its second AMCC win of the season
* All-in-all Wednesday's contest saw three ties and eight lead changes
* McDonough finished with a game-high 25 points on 8-for-17 shooting from the field and 6-for-8 from the line. He scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half
* Other Behrend Lions to deliver double-figures were DiRienzo (18 points) and Edwards (12 points)
* Off the bench, DeGregorio tallied eight points, while Sopko registered six points to go along with eight rebounds for Behrend
* Altoona had three players record double-figures: Dwayne Jones (17 points), Kal-El Gentles (13 points), and Kaden Claar (13 points). Jones also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds

Up Next:

* Behrend heads back home for a three-game homestand, starting with a matchup against Pitt-Bradford on Saturday, Jan. 11. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.