Trending
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Penn State Altoona men’s basketball concluded its weekend road trip in Virginia on Sunday afternoon, when the Lions lost 88-81 to non-conference foe Regent University at Gateway Christian Academy.
Regent (1-0) led by as many as 14 points during the first half, but Penn State Altoona (0-2) battled back to make it a three-point game, 41-38, by halftime. Scoring picked up in the second half, but the Royals did enough to stay ahead of the Lions and finish with a seven-point win in a game marred by a combined 55 fouls.
“Tough loss. Regent is good and very physical. They will beat a lot of teams, especially at home, where it’s tough for any team to win there,” said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. “Focusing on us, we have a long road ahead. There will be a lot of soul searching over the next 48 hours, but we will for sure be ready to open up Wednesday at home.”
Braelen Cage (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) and Kal-El Gentles (Austin, TX/San Juan Diego) each scored 19 points to lead the way for Penn State Altoona. Cage hit five shots from the floor overall, including three three-pointers, while going 6-for-6 at the foul line. Gentles also made five shots and hit nine free throws while leading the Lions with six rebounds, six assists, three steals, and two blocks.
Malachi Brown (Philadelphia, PA/Central) provided 11 points off the bench, and Jaysen Moise (Germantown, MD/Seneca Valley) also came off the bench to score 10 points to go along with five rebounds and two steals.
For Regent, Christian Brown scored a game-high 23 points and Grant Worley added 10 points.
The Royals started the game with a 4-1 advantage through the first two-and-a-half minutes, before layups by Nehemiah Frye (King George, VA/King George) and Cage and two free throws from Gentles helped the Lions stay within two points, 9-7, of the home team’s lead. But Regent outscored Penn State Altoona 12-4 over the next several minutes to increase its advantage to 21-11. Later in the half, the Royals expanded their lead to 30-16 on a Joaquin Harley three-pointer at 7:20.
Regent carried a double-digit lead into the waning minutes of the half, but Penn State Altoona chipped away at its deficit to close the gap to three by halftime. Back-to-back buckets from Gentles and Frye made it 30-22 by the 5:14 mark, and two foul shots from Brown at 3:31 got the difference to seven points, 33-26. Brown helped the Lions draw even closer, as he made two more free throws before nailing a three-pointer at 1:51 to trim the Regent lead to 37-34. Foul shots by Moise and Jahad Marable tied the score at 38-38, before a last-second three-pointer from the Royals’ Joziah Mincey put the home squad back on top heading into the locker rooms.
Regent scored the first four points of the second half to widen its lead to 45-38, and the Royals reestablished a double-digit advantage in the middle stages of the half, working their way to a 59-49 lead by the 12:32 mark. Penn State Altoona responded with six straight points after that, with five of them coming from Cage via a three-pointer and two foul shots. Shortly thereafter, two baskets from Gentles and a layup from Moise brought the Lions even with the Royals, 61-61.
Regent briefly reclaimed the lead, but Penn State Altoona edged ahead, 67-66, at the 7:11 mark when Marable made two free throws. The Royals struck back to jump ahead 78-70, thanks to a 12-3 scoring run that gave the home team an eight-point advantage with 3:21 remaining.
Four foul shots from Cage helped Penn State Altoona get back to within four, 78-74, with 1:36 to play, and Brown’s trey and two Moise free throws kept the Lions within five points, 84-79, by the 52-second mark. However, Penn State Altoona was unable to make up any further ground, as Regent sealed its first win of the season with a seven-point decision over the Lions.
Penn State Altoona finished the game with a 23-5 advantage over Regent in points off turnovers, helped by winning the turnover battle by eight. But the Lions could not overcome the difference in shooting, as Regent hit 50 percent of its shots from the floor compared to Penn State Altoona’s 37.5 percent field goal percentage.
Next up, Penn State Altoona men’s basketball has its home opener this Wednesday, Nov. 11, against regional non-conference opponent Penn College. Tipoff in Adler Arena is 6 p.m.