ALTOONA, PA - The Medaille men's basketball team found themselves down nine points midway through the first half but the Mavs would dig in and put together a run that would produce a six point halftime lead en route to an (84-69) win over Penn State-Altoona.  The win assured the Mavs the AMCC Regular Season title for the third time in four years due to a La Roche loss.

The hosts began the game by knocking down some three pointers while the Mavs got off to a bit of a sluggish start.  The Mavs responded in the latter portion of the first half by connecting on some long range shots, finishing the half with (6) three pointers while knocking down half of their field goal attempts in the opening twenty minutes.

A key contributor to the Mavs success on the day was Phil Maiarana who poured in a team high (18) points on (5 of 8) shooting from the field, (4 of 5) from behind the arc and a perfect (4 for 4) from the charity stripe.  Maiarana also dished out three assists and came up with a pair of steals on the defensive end of the floor.  Fellow senior Angel Flores also went (5 for 8) from the floor in a (15) point effort that included a (3 for 5) performance from long range.

An impressive all around stat line came from David Shuey who netted nine points while posting game bests with ten rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots.  Coming off the bench to match Shuey's three blocks was Sean Bellomo who also chipped in with five points and four rebounds.  Another senior had a (5 for 8) outing in the win as Steve Bryant matched the feat of Maiarana and Flores, as he finished with (13) points while drilling home (3 of 4) from behind the arc.

All told the Mavs knocked down (13) three point shots while hitting them at a (48.1%) clip.  They continued to share the ball well as they assisted on (17 of 28) field goals.  They were also strong from the free throw line at (88.2%) as were the Lions who went (17 for 18) from the charity stripe.

The win is the ninth straight for Medaille and marks the second nine game win streak of the season for the Mavs.  They are now (21-2) overall and remain atop the AMCC standings at (15-1). 

The Medaille victory coupled with a La Roche loss this afternoon to Pitt-Bradford, assures the Mavs of the title and home court advantage in the AMCC Tournament.  They will host D'Youville College on Wednesday (2/15) at 6:00pm in the Sullivan Center.

SEASON STATS

AMCC STANDINGS