ALTOONA, Pa. - After finding themselves down by nine at halftime, the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team turned the tables on visiting Pitt-Bradford in the second half, outscoring the Panthers 39-27 in the period to claim a 61-58 win in the Adler Gym on Sunday afternoon.
Kirk Peters (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) scored nine points to push himself past the 1,000 point mark for his career. Peters needed three points entering the game.
Zach Spitz (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) led all players with 19 points for the Lions, while dishing out eight assists and getting six rebounds.
Lorenzo Carter (Philadelphia, PA/Swenson) and Justin Gasbarre (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) each scored 10 points for Penn State Altoona.
Tied at 14 with 8:26 left in the first half, Pitt-Bradford outscored Penn State Altoona 17-8 the rest of the period to take a 31-22 lead at halftime.
But the Lions narrowed their deficit to one early in the second half on Carter's fastbreak dunk. Spitz tied the game at 35-35 on his jumper at 14:43.
After back and forth basketball continued for much of the half, the Panthers found themselves ahead again 54-53 at the 2:48 mark on Mike Ridge's layup.
But Gasbarre struck back with a three-pointer to put Penn State Altoona back on top at 56-54.
After both teams exchanged free throws, an Alex VanDeusen layup for Pitt-Bradford narrowed the score to 59-58 with 19 seconds to play.
But Jay D Adamsky (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) sank a pair of foul shots to put the Lions up 61-58, and the defense held a last-second three-point attempt by Pitt-Bradford to seal the win.