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By Matt Michelone
sports@altoonamirror.com
CRESSON -- Mount Aloysius College men's basketball coach Marcus Thomas is very familiar with going up against Penn State Altoona's Dave McGreal.
Thomas played his college basketball at AMCC's Pitt-Greensburg before eventually starting his coaching career with the Mounties three years ago.
Wednesday night at the Mount Aloysius College Athletic Convocation & Wellness Center he experienced his first triumph over Penn State Altoona, 89-85.
"I tell him all of the time they've done such a good job of coming up since when I played in the league," Thomas said. "They're such a tough group right now. I think it helps us show the elevation that we're trying to get to. I think it's more showing the progression we're trying to make."
Reggie Priah helped set the tempo for the Mounties late in the first half when he put away a second putback to draw the extra free throw for two of his game-high 21 points. He later added a jumper to help the Mounties extend the lead to 14 points as they took a 48-38 halftime lead.
Before the game, Priah was recognized for scoring his 1,000th career point on Jan. 20 during the Mounties 85-84 win at Pitt-Bradford.
"He's been huge for us in a number of different ways," Thomas said. "I think a lot of times it's easy to look at his ability to score for us, but his rebounding, I know he was top couple in the league, and his passing has been big for us. He's a huge difference maker."
The Lions, though, chipped away and erased that lead. Dwayne Jones hit a jumper off the inbound pass for two of his 20 points. He finished with a double-double racking up 10 rebounds.
Mason Bush later added a 3-pointer with just over 18 minutes in the game as he scored his team-high 21 points.
"We put ourselves into a position where we had to fight back, and we did fight back," McGreal said. "But when you do that, you burn a lot of energy, and your main guys are playing a lot of minutes. Down the stretch I think we just ran out of gas. They just outrebounded us; they played more physical."
Mount answered, though, as Octavius Hardy beat the beat block for a hook shot with just over 15 minutes to play as he scored 16 points.
Bush later answered with an NBA-range 3-ball to take a 62-61 lead, but that's the last lead Penn State Altoona had in the game.
"We knew they were going to go on a run," Thomas said. "We didn't expect to run away with it. The biggest thing that has been different for us lately is that we have also been equaling the response. Earlier in the year, we'd get punched and we'd fold a little bit. Now, we're responding equally."
Momentum kept swinging back and forth to the point where the game was tied until Priah drained a put back with under five minutes to go., and Ronnie McClain deposited a fade away jumper to give the Mounties an 84-79 lead.
The Mounties held a 10-point advantage in four areas including turnovers (21-8), in the paint (54-38), second chance (14-4), and fast breaks (27-9). Penn State Altoona turned the ball over 17 times to the Mounties 12.
"Normally when we don't win, we don't play well offensively," McGreal said. "Tonight, that wasn't the case. We just couldn't stop them, and we definitely couldn't stop them inside."
PENN STATE ALTOONA (8-12): Goodwin 1-2 0-0 3, White 2-7 2-2 7, Jones 9-15 0-1 20, Baskerville 4-8 2-2 12, Bush 6-12 4-4 21, Gardner 3-6 0-1 6, Charles 5-8 0-0 11, Woodland, Jr. 0-1 0-0 0, Cage 1-2 0-0 2, Kargo 0-0 0-0 0, Johansson 1-2 0-0 3, Pierce 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 32-63 8-10 85.
MOUNT ALOYSIUS (7-13): Hagwood 5-14 0-2 11, Cummings 3-5 2-3 8, Ramirez-Keller 2-6 0-0 5, Haggans 8-18 5-6 21, Priah 8-11 5-5 21, McClain 2-5 3-4 7, Hardy 6-12 2-5 16, Hudgins 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 34-72 15-22 89.
Halftime - Mount Aloysius, 48-38. 3-point goals - Penn State Altoona 13-25 (Jones 2-3, Baskerville 2-4, Bush 5-8, Goodwin 1-1, White 1-3, Charles 1-1, Gardner 0-1, Woodland Jr. 0-1, Cage 0-1, Johansson 1-2); Mount Aloysius 6-24 (Haggans 0-2, Priah 0-2, Hagwood 1-7, Cummings 2-3, Ramirez Keller 1-4, Hardy 2-5, Hudgins 0-1). Assists - Penn State Altoona 14 (Jones, White 4); Mount Aloysius 19 (Haggans, Hagwood 7). Rebounds - Penn State Altoona 26 (Jones 10); Mount Aloysius 39 (Priah, Hagwood 8). Total Fouls - Penn State Altoona 17, Mount Aloysius 14. Technical Fouls - None.