STEUBENVILLE, Oh. - The Penn State Altoona men's basketball team outscored Franciscan 40-29 in the second half, and the Lions claimed a 64-55 victory over the Barons in their Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference clash Thursday night.

Geiger led all scorers with 23 points on 7-of-17 shooting, while teammate Kirk Peters (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) was the only other Altoona player in double figures with 18.  Peters also collected a team-high seven rebounds.

Franciscan stayed in the game thanks to 18 and 17 points from Josh Ducoulombier and Sam Titus, and nine points and nine rebounds from Robert Slattery.

After trailing 11-2 to start the game, Altoona went on a 22-15 run over the next 15 minutes to bring itself within striking distance at halftime, down 26-24.  The Lions would fight a back-and-forth battle for the first ten minutes of the second half until Colin Geiger (Pottstown, PA/Pottsgrove) hit a three-pointer with 10:09 remaining in the second half to put the Lions ahead 43-42. 

Altoona would not give up the lead again in the final 10 minutes of action. 

The Lions held a decisive 26-8 advantage in points in the paint, and a slight 14-11 edge in points off turnovers.  The game also saw nine total lead changes and six ties throughout the night.

The win improves Altoona's record to 11-7 overall and 8-3 in the conference.

The Lions are back in action this Saturday, January 31, when they take on La Roche at the Adler Gynmasium.  Earlier this year, Altoona and the Redhawks met in Pittsburgh where La Roche enjoyed a 60-46 win over the Lions.  Game time is set for 4:00 PM on Saturday.