HAMBURG, N.Y. - The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team competed in the first round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament tonight, losing to Hilbert 92-77 at Hafner Recreation Center.  

Penn State Altoona (12-14, 6-10 AMCC) put up a solid performance in the first half, only going into the halftime break losing by one point. Things became unraveled in the second half; however, as Hilbert (16-10, 8-8 AMCC) scored 55 points to the Lions' 41, coming away with a 15-point victory that ends Penn State Altoona's season.  

"Disappointing end to a roller coaster of a season. Gotta tip your hat to Hilbert — they're always tough to beat at home, and once again, they proved that," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "We definitely had our chances, but couldn't get anything going consistently on offense, and when we needed to put some stops together, we just couldn't do it." 

Nehemiah Frye (King George, VA/King George) and Braelen Cage (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) tied for the team-high in scoring, each getting 20 points. Rasheed Daniels (Richmond, VA/Monacan) had 17 points, while Kaden Claar (Portage, PA/Portage) contributed 11 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and one block. After the game, Cage was named to the AMCC All-Tournament team.

"So proud of how Kaden Claar competed this year. He has been the rock for us, so I was a little upset for him that he didn't play as well as he could. But I said in the locker room: if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have made the playoffs," said McGreal. "I also want to tip my cap to Zion Bruce for the role he played this year, solidifying our bench and giving us some leadership, energy, and timely shooting all season long. These two will definitely be missed." 

For the Hawks, Ari Jones had a game-high 28 points, while Jayden Montgomery added 21 points.  

The Lions overcame an early five-point deficit to take a one-point lead after a Daniels layup.  

At 10:15, the Hawks went on a short, 6-0 run to take a six-point lead. The Lions fired back, going on a 9-0 run, with jump shots from Frye and layups and a free throw from Daniels, to take back the lead, 27-24. The next two-and-a-half minutes would see two lead changes, with Daniels's layup at 5:00 making it 33-31 in favor of the Lions.  

The Lions nearly went into halftime with the lead after Cage scored a three-pointer to make it 36-35, but Montgomery scored a jump shot to give the Hawks a one-point lead going into the halftime intermission.  

The second half started much like the first half. Hilbert scored a three-pointer and a layup to grow their lead to six points. Frye, Claar, and Penn State Altoona responded with an 8-2 to tie the game at 44 points.  

The Hawks started to pull away at 14:06, when they went on a 9-0 run to take a ten-point lead. Less than five minutes later, the Hawks went on an 8-0 run to grow their lead to 15 points, their largest lead of the game. The Lions fought back, going on a 9-0 run of their own with a three-pointer and two-point jump shot from Claar, two free throws from Cage, and a layup from Daniels to cut Hilbert's lead to only six points.  

Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Lions got as the Hawks closed out the game and got the 15-point victory.  

"Proud that we were able to finish another season over .500 in the regular season and make the tournament for the eighth time in nine years," said McGreal "We have proven ourselves to be one of the top teams in our league, year in and year out. But until we hoist that trophy, we will continue to work towards that ultimate goal."