ALTOONA, Pa. -  After leading the entire second half and the majority of the opening half, the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team watched visiting Medaille overcome a seven-point deficit with 3:43 remaining and end the game on a 5-0 spurt to nab an improbable 56-53 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference victory Saturday at the Adler Gym.

Medaille cut its deficit to 50-48 on a Ron Malicki lay up with 2:36 remaining before Lion guard Colin Geiger (Pottstown, PA/Pottsgrove) broke loose for a basket and the foul, pushing the advantage back to five.  The Mavs got a Keith Hack 3-pointer to bring it back to two and tied the game on a Ricky Reed lay in with 1:07 left.

An Altoona turnover with 37 seconds on the clock gave Medaille possession, and Hack made a lay up off a back cut with 10 seconds remaining.  Geiger missed a trey, and Zach Spitz (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township), who grabbed the offensive board, misfired on a jumper before Mavs forward Bill Gersitz got the rebound and was intentionally fouled. 

Gersitz made 1-of-2 shots to put the visitors ahead 56-53 with 1.9 seconds showing.  Medaille inbounded under the Penn State Altoona basket when Chris Moscato slipped and Spitz grabbed the steal.  But Curtis Geiger (Pottstown, PA/Pottsgrove) 24-footer bounced off the rim, and Medaille escaped with the victory.

Both teams shot 38% from the floor and combined to make only 15 first-half field goals.  Altoona led 27-21 at intermission thanks to 13 points from Colin Geiger, who finished with a team-high 18 points.  Brother Curtis had 10, and Kirk Peters (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) finished with 12.

The Mavs got 16 points from Hack, 10 from Malicki, and nine from Kelly Condello.  The two squads fired a combined 7-of-36 from beyond the arc, and Medaille was a dismal 15-for-27 at the charity stripe.

The visitors held a 38-28 advantage in the paint and outscored the Lion reserves 23-11.  Altoona scored 11 points on the fastbreak compared to four by the Mavs and connected on 11-of-15 foul shots.

A low scoring first half saw Penn State Altoona pull away behind seven Colin Geiger points down the stretch.  With the Mavs leading 19-18, Geiger drained a jumper then canned all three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.  He drained another two free throws after an Eric Gaetano (Montoursville, PA/Loyalsock Township) bucket to close a 9-0 run.

Altoona pushed its lead to 10 on two occasions early in the second half.  Medaille cut it to 40-38 midway through the period, but the Lions answered with five straight points to give themselves breathing room.  The lead hovered around four until Medaille's final-minute heroics.

Penn State Altoona dropped to 12-11 overall and 9-7 in the AMCC.  The Lions are home this Wednesday, February 18, for an 8:00 PM tip against Pitt-Greensburg.  Seniors Colin and Curtis Geiger will be recognized prior to tip-off.