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ALTOONA -- Penn College held off Penn State Altoona in a 78-75 nonconference men's basketball victory on Wednesday. Clyde Frasier broke a 70-70 tie with 2:17 remaining and put the Wildcats ahead for good, and the defense disrupted the Lions last second attempt.
The Wildcats and Lions played a tight first half with neither side able to gain more than a three-possession lead. Penn College erased two five-point deficits with an Akoi Deng layup and two Peyton Murphy free throws, cutting into Penn State Altoona's lead (30-26) with just over five minutes to play.
A Neyshawn Mabry layup, Hunter Hoy triple and Frasier layup pulled the Wildcats within one, 36-35 with 2:50 on the clock, nd a Jay Henry fast-break layup off an assist from Frasier handed the Wildcats a late 39-38 lead with 1:25 left in the first half. The Lions answered with a layup to regain a 40-39 lead at the break.
Another back-and-forth second half tilted the Wildcats way when Frasier's go-ahead layup at 2:17 broke a 70-70 tie and would be the difference in the game. Frasier added some breathing room with another tough drive to the cup and free throw to give the Wildcats a 75-70 lead with 1:27 to go. Peyton Murphy made two free throws with 30 seconds left, and after Penn St.-Altoona hit a 3-pointer to get within 77-75, Frasier added a free throw with 11 seconds remaining for the 78-75 finish.
Frasier scored a team-high 19 points and added five steals, four assists and four rebounds. Neyshawn Mabry finished with 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting and collected six rebounds. Murphy scored 15 points, went 7-for-7 at the free-throw line and hit two 3-pointers. Henry recorded seven assists and added four rebounds.
The Wildcats shot 55% (28-of-51) and scored 19 points off 19 Penn State Altoona turnovers, while grabbing 32 rebounds as a team.
Kal-El Gentles scored 22 points, and added six assists and six rebounds to lead the Lions. Michael Baskerville posted nine points, three steals and four rebounds and Braelen Cage finished with nine points, one block and one steal.
Penn College gets set to host Misericordia for the first time at Bardo Gym this season on Saturday at 6 p.m.
PENN COLLEGE (1-0)
Clyde Frasier 8-13 3-5 19, Neyshawn Mabry 7-7 1-6 15, Peyton Murphy 3-8 7-7 15, Joe Savage 4-6 1-5 9, Jay Henry 1-6 2-2 4, Alex Cercado 2-3 2-2 7, Akoi Deng 2-4 2-2 6, Hunter Hoy 1-2 0-0 3, Colby Bost 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-51 18-29 78.
PSU ALTOONA (0-1)
Kal-El Gentles 6-9 10-13 22, Braelen Cage 3-9 0-0 9, Michael Baskerville 3-6 2-2 9, Nehemiah Frye 2-7 1-2 5, Mason Kargo 1-4 0-0 2, Malachi Brown 3-5 0-0 8, Jacob Szep 3-5 1-2 8, Jaysen Moise 2-6 2-2 6, Jahad Marable 2-2 0-0 4, Brendan Abell 1-1 0-0 2, Colin Hartig 0-2 0-0 0, Sean Capers 0-0 0-0 0, Tobias Obel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 16-21 75.
Halftime: PSU Altoona, 40-39. 3-point goals: PCT 4-10 (Murphy 2-3, Cercado 1-1, Hoy 1-1, Deng 0-1, Frasier 0-1, Bost 0-2), PSU Altoona 7-23 (Gage 3-9, Brown 2-2, Szep 1-2, Baskerville 1-3, Frye 0-2, MOise 0-1, Kargo 0-2, Gentles 0-2). Fouled out: PCT-none; PSU Altoona-none. Rebounds: PCT 32 (Savage 9), PSU Altoona 31 (Gentles 6, Frye 6). Assists: PCT 17 (Henry 7), PSU Altoona 17 (Gentles 6). Technical fouls: PCT-none; PSU Altoona-none. Total fouls: PCT 14, PSU Altoona 19. A: 311.