Cresson, PA - The Mount Aloysius Men's Basketball team used another strong second half showing to come from behind and defeat Hilbert College 73-63.
The Mounties started off strong as they were able to build an 8-point lead in the first 10 minutes. Imrane Amadou (Cotonou, Benin/Harcum Junior College) started things off with a strong post move and lay-up. With the score tied at 9, Julian Stover (Washington, DC/Richard Montgomery) dropped a pass off inside to Carlos Palacio (Bilbao, Spain/Phelps School) who threw down a slam dunk in traffic to start a rally. Tommy Pisula (Scottdale, Pa/Southmoreland) stole the ball and went the distance to expand the lead and two Stover free throws and a jumper from Nate Christian got the lead to 8. Hilbert responded with a quick run of their own to cut the Mountie lead to 2 in just over a minute. They continued their success over the final 5 minutes, eventually taking the lead with 1:43 remaining.
The combo of Amadou and Palacio took over in the second half as Mount Aloysius outscored the Hawks 47-34 in the final period. Amadou poured in 15 in the half while Palacio scored 8. The first 10 minutes of the half was back and forth between the two teams as they shared 8 lead changes. The Mounties took the lead for good with 10:11 to go when Trent McErlane (Greenville, PA/Greenville) hit a three on a pass from Christian. This started a 22-11 run that saw the Mounties slowly build a 12-point lead.
Amadou recorded his second straight double-double as he finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. 5 of the 12 rebounds were on the offensive end. He also made all 7 free throws he attempted. Palacio scored 18 in the game on 7-16 shooting including hitting 3-6 from deep. He grabbed 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Nate Christian was the final Mountie to finish in double digits as he scored 12 while collecting 9 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists.
The win moves the Mountie's record to 11-8 overall with an 8-4 record in conference play. They currently sit in 3rd place in the AMCC. The Mounties will hit the road next week as they travel to Franciscan on Wednesday and D'Youville on Saturday.
