Cresson, PA - The Mount Aloysius Men's Basketball team overcame a poor shooting first half to defeat Penn State Altoona 77-73 in the AMCC Game of the Week. While they shot 36% from the field and 7% from three in the first half, the Mounties flipped the script in the second, scoring 47 points on 53% shooting and 46% from three.
The two teams remained close throughout the first half of play, as the the Lions were able to take four seperate leads of 2 points, and the Mounties were able to build leads up to 5. Along with a tough Mount Aloysius defense that held Penn State Altoona to 30 points,
Nate Christian (Accokeek, MD/Surratsville/Hood) kept the Mounties afloat in the first half scoring 13 points in the period before the break. Christian had a stretch of 5 minutes where he scored all 9 of the Mounties points.
After the break, Penn State Altoona scored the first 5 points of the half, however
Trent McErlane (Greenville, PA/Greenville) completed a 4 point play and
Imrane Amadou (Cotonou, Benin/Harcum Junior College) made a lay up to put the Mounties back in the lead. The teams again traded leads through the second half, as each team would build and lose 5 point leads at different times. With the score tied at 65 with just over 3 minutes to go,
Carlos Palacio (Bilbao, Spain/Phelps School) made a three from the wing to put the Mounties up for good. Under a minute later,
Julian Stover (Washington, DC/Richard Montgomery) made a plays on both end of the floor to push the lead back to 5. Stover first drew a charge on the defensive end, and then hit a three from the left wing on the very next possession. The Mounties finished off the game in the final minute with an old fashioned three point play from Palacio and free throws from Stover and McErlane to put the game away.
Christian and Palacio both finished with 18 points for the game. Christian filled up the entire stat sheet, grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, blocking a shot and recording 2 steals. With his 18 points, Palacio also grabbed 8 rebounds and recorded 4 assists without committing a turnover.
Imrane Amadou recorded his 3rd double-double of the season while also making an impact in the pain swatting away 3 shots. McErlane also finished in double figures, scoring 10 points.
The Mounties record is now 10-8 overall, with a 7-4 record in AMCC play. They are in fourth place in the conference just half a game behind Medaille for 3rd. They will return to the court on Saturday when they take on Hilbert College at 3:00.
