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PITTSBURGH -- The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team is headed to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship game for the first time in program history.
The Lions, the second seed in the AMCC Tournament, overpowered sixth seed Pitt-Bradford 109-96 in Friday afternoon's semifinal round matchup at La Roche University. Penn State Altoona will face top seed La Roche, Saturday at 1 p.m. for the AMCC title and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Penn State Altoona (17-8) was led by its offense. The Lions shot 56.8 percent from the floor as a team, including hitting 11 3-pointers, and the team outrebounded Pitt-Bradford (12-15) by a margin of 44-25.
Additionally, Penn State Altoona senior guard Robbie Hicks surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his collegiate career during the first half of Friday's game. Entering the contest needing 10 points to reach 1,000, he tied for the team lead in scoring with 20 points and becomes the eighth player in Lions history to surpass 1,000 points with the team.
Saivon Word finished just shy of a triple-double, matching Hicks' total of 20 points while also dishing out a game-high 11 assists and securing eight rebounds. His 11 assists ties him for the third-most in a game in Lions history.
PJ Charles earned his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, and he added five assists and a game-high three blocks. Andruw Harman added 12 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while Dwayne Jones came off the bench to provide 14 points, five boards, and three helpers.
"So proud of what we just accomplished. I believe we learned a lot from last year, and the guys were super focused today," PSU Altoona coach David McGreal said. "We didn't look ahead. We stayed on task and played offensively the way we are capable of playing every game. Led by Sai, Robbie, and Druw, this group was ready for today."
Pitt-Bradford got a game-high 28 points from Nathan Schneider, while Caden Beldin added 21 points for the Panthers.
By the game's end, Penn State Altoona had outscored Pitt-Bradford 58-40 in the paint and held a 34-16 advantage in bench points. The Lions' total of 26 team assists tied for the seventh-most in a game in program history, their total of 42 field goals made tied for eighth, and their total of 109 points tied for the ninth-most.
PITT-BRADFORD (12-15): Mason 3-4 0-3 6, Lindholm 2-8 4-4 10, Rodriguez 5-10 4-5 15, Schneider 11-18 4-6 28, Beldin 8-13 0-0 21, Oyler 0-3 0-0 0, Williams 3-7 2-2 11, Napoleon 2-4 0-0 5. Totals: 34-67 14-20 96.
PSU ALTOONA (17-8): Bush 3-7 0-2 8, Charles 7-11 1-1 15, Harman 6-12 0-0 12, Word 8-11 3-6 20, Hicks 6-9 4-5 20, Sheetz 2-3 2-2 8, Jones 5-8 4-4 14, White 2-6 0-0 4, Pierce 0-0 0-0 0, Jarosz 0-0 0-0 0, McClellan 2-3 0-0 6, Gardner 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 42-74 14-20 109.
Halftime: PSU Altoona, 50-40. 3-point goals: UPB 14-27 (Lindholm 2-5, Rodriguez 1-3, Schneider 2-4, Beldin 5-8, Oyler 0-2, Williams 3-3, Napoleon 1-2); PSU Altoona 11-27 (Bush 2-5, Charles 0-1, Harman 0-4, Word 1-1, Hicks 4-7, Sheetz 2-3, Jones 0-1, White 0-2, McClellan 2-3. Rebounds: UPG 25 (Schneider 8); PSU Altoona 44 (Charles 14). Assists: UPG 16 (2 tied with 3); PSU Altoona 26 (Word 11). Attendance: 67