PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team traveled west Wednesday night to play against Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Carlow in Donahue Pavilion, where they got their first conference win of the season as they defeated the Celtics 82-79. 

The lead changed nine times in a hard-fought game. Penn State Altoona (7-7, 1-4 AMCC) held a slim 43-41 halftime lead, but Carlow (1-15, 1-6 AMCC) fought back, taking the lead late in the second half. However, Penn State Altoona came back to win by three points.  

"Glad to get that first conference win. We didn't make it easy on ourselves, but when we had to get a stop and a score we were able to." said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal.  

Two players finished with 20 points or more for the Lions. Nehemiah Frye (King George, VA/King George) finished with a game-high 21 points and six rebounds. Kaden Claar (Portage, PA/Portage) scored 20 points, and had four rebounds, one assist, and four steals. Mason Kargo (Portage, PA/Portage) provided a game-high eight assists. Michael Baskerville (Damascus, MD/Damascus) tied for the game-high in rebounds with nine.  

Carlow's Jimmy Giannetta led the Celtics in points with 20 points, while Tavin Anderson chipped in with 14 points and Clayton Cook contributed 13 points. 

Both teams tried to gain leads early in the first half. Carlow took a 13-8 lead at 14:59 after a Giannetta three-point shot. In the following minute, Frye and Braelen Cage (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) scored, and the Celtics scored two baskets of their own to make it 18-12.  

The Celtics took a nine-point lead at 9:52 after Jordan McClure scored a three-pointer. The Lions responded by going on a 11-0 run at 9:37, with Kaden Claar scoring a three-pointer, layup, and free throw; Elliot Johansson (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) scoring a layup, and Drew Escala (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) scoring a three-pointer to give the Lions a 27-25 lead.  

Penn State Altoona looked to grow their lead at 2:30 as Aidan McCormack (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) set up Frye for the layup to give the Lions a six-point lead.  

Carlow equalized eighteen seconds left in the half, but Kargo scored two free throws to ensure the Lions went into the halftime break with a two-point lead. 

Penn State Altoona went on a short 6-0 run to start the second half, with Kargo scoring a layup, and Frye scoring a jump shot as well as a layup to extend the Lions lead to eight points.  

The Lions went on a 9-0 run at 15:33 as Cage scored a layup, Zion Bruce (Kihei, HI/Maryknoll) scored a three-pointer, Rasheed Daniels (Richmond, VA/Monacan) scored a free throw, and Claar scored a three-pointer to bring their lead to 14 points, their largest of the game.  

Carlow responded by going on a 9-2 run at 12:28 to cut the lead to seven. The Celtics followed that run up with a 16-2 run at 7:13 to take a 75-74 lead.  

The following two minutes would be the most crucial part of the game as both teams looked to get the win. The Lions took the lead first before the Celtics stole the lead. Then, with 0:43 remaining, Claar scored a three-pointer to make it 79-77. Nearly thirty seconds later, Frye scored two free throws to make it 81-77. Giannetta scored a layup to make it 81-79 before Claar scored a free throw to give the Lions an 82-79 victory. 

"We have to continue to improve every day," said McGreal. 

The Penn State Altoona men's basketball schedule remains in Pittsburgh for their next game as they face the La Roche Redhawks on Saturday, January 17, at 4:00 p.m.