Men’s Basketball bested by Penn State Altoona

ALTOONA, Pa. --- Carlow University men's basketball lost a 105-78 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference contest to Penn State Altoona on the road Sunday.

The game today was a make up date from a weather-related postponement earlier in the week.

Turnovers and fouls came back to haunt the Celtics (3-19, 2-12 AMCC), and the Lions (15-8,11-3 AMCC) ended the day shooting 57.6 percent (38 for 66) from the field.

Byron Gaskins (Woodbridge, Va./Christ Chapel Academy) scored 17 points, and Adnan Sbai (Camp Hill, Pa./East Pennsboro Area HS/Seton Hill University) contributed 17 points off the bench in the effort. Riley Comforti (Scottdale, Pa./Southmoreland HS) added 11 points and four assists off the bench.

Gaskins and Sbai scored nearly all their points in the first half, as the Penn State Altoona defense collapsed on them in the second.

Back-to-back treys from Gaskins and Sbai tied the game at 13-all early in the first half. A layup by the Lions set off a 16-5 run that spanned over seven minutes to give Penn State Altoona a 29-18 lead.

A layup by Gaskins cut that lead to nine, but the Lions put together another run, outscoring Carlow 15-5 to lead, 44-25, with 2:49 remaining in the half. The Celtics trailed by 14 at intermission.

Penn State Altoona pushed its advantage to 20 early in the second half and held Carlow scoreless for over seven minutes, taking a 19-0 run to lead by 34 before a three-pointer from Sbai ended the Celtics' scoring draught at 12:15.

The Lions maintained at least a 25-point advantage the remainder of the game enroute to the victory.

Carlow shot 40.7 percent (11 for 27) from three on the day. Penn State Altoona held a narrow 34-33 margin in rebounding and scoring off the bench, 48-47. The Lions outscored the Celtics 54-32 in the paint and scored 20 points off 22 Carlow turnovers.

Dwayne Jones led the Lions with a game-high 18 points, five steals and four assists. Kal-El Gentles added 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and two other players contributed 10 points apiece in the win.

The Celtics host La Roche University for a 7 p.m. AMCC game Feb. 19.