Behrend, Altoona Play In Another AMCC Thriller; McDonough Reaches 1,000 Career Points

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team couldn't outlast Penn State Altoona Saturday, falling by a score of 80-77.

Score: Penn State Altoona 80 , Penn State Behrend 77
Records: Penn State Altoona (13-8, 9-3 AMCC), Penn State Behrend (11-11­, 6-7 AMCC)

Noteworthy:

* Nine minutes into the second half, junior guard Matthew McDonough (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) reached the 1,000-point mark with two free throw makes
* McDonough becomes the 25^th player in program history to reach this feat with the last player being teammate Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) last season on January 6^th

Key Moments:

* Behrend controlled the first 11 minutes of the contest, holding a 21-17 lead
* Two three-pointers by Kaden Claar and a pair of free throw makes by Kal-El Gentles gave Altoona a 26-21 advantage with 6:27 left in the first half
* After grabbing this lead, Altoona would end the half on a 13-7 run to head into the locker room up nine (39-28)
* Mason Kargo (14 points) and Claar (10 points) tallied double-digit first half points for Altoona, while Dolan Waldo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) had nine Behrend points in the first 20 minutes
* For the first four minutes of the second half, Altoona maintained its nine-point advantage (44-35)
* Behrend went on a mini 10-1 run of its own that was capped off by a DiRienzo three-pointer to make it a two-point game (45-43)
* However, Altoona would take its biggest lead of the game of 13 (60-47) with 7:50 left in the contest
* Behrend went on another run of 12-2 in the next two minutes to cut Altoona's advantage to only two (61-59)
* This as close as Behrend would get as Altoona was able to make some free throws down the stretch to secure its ninth conference victory of the season
* DiRienzo finished just one rebound shy of a double-double, recording a game-high 29 points and nine rebounds. He now has 1,749 career points which passes James Curren's (2000-04) 1,726 career points for second on the program's all-time scoring list
* Nate Edwards (Girard, PA/Girard) chipped in 11 second half points to tally 15 total points to along with four assists, while McDonough registered 12 points and tied his career-high with seven rebounds
* For Altoona, Claar (19 points), Gentles (15 points), Kargo (14 points), and Abiah Charles (12 points) all delivered double-figure scoring efforts
* Behrend narrowly outscored Altoona in points off turnovers (16-11), second chance points (19-13), and points in the paint (34-32)

Up Next:

* Behrend starts a two-game road trip next week, beginning with Hilbert on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.