ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's basketball returned from an 18-day layoff to post a 108-81 victory on Saturday afternoon over Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Hilbert College in the Adler Arena.

Penn State Altoona (11-2, 6-0 AMCC) shook off a slow start to finish the contest with the eighth-most points in a game in Lions history and the team's fourth 100-plus point performance of the season. The squad remains unbeaten through its first six AMCC games of the schedule.

"Very proud of this team. I was a little nervous about an almost three-week layoff since our last game down in Florida, but I told them as long as we came out and defended, we'd be in good shape. That's exactly what we did," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "It was a sluggish start, which was probably to be expected. But our second unit, led by Mason Bush and PJ Charles, got us back on track and moving things in the right direction. We righted the ship early in the first half and never looked back."

Mason Bush (Pittsburgh, PA/Seneca Valley) led Penn State Altoona in scoring with a season-high 18 points off the bench, going 5-for-6 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge) scored 17 points, tied for the team lead in rebounds and assists with six and three, respectively, and finished with a game-high five steals.

Saivon Word (Upper Marlboro, MD/Frederick Douglass) added 15 points, three assists, and a block, and Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) finished with 12 points, six rebounds, and a game-high two blocks. PJ Charles (Altoona, PA/Altoona) rounded out the Lions' double-digit scorers with 11 points.

Hilbert (5-9, 1-4 AMCC) got a game-high 22 points from Quran Briggs. Eric Jackson contributed 11 points for the Hawks, and Edward Perez had 10 points and eight boards.

"Shoutout to Hilbert and head coach Rob deGrandpre. They played very hard while dealing with some personnel issues," said McGreal. "They have a lot of young, talented players, and I know they're going to continue to get better and better."

Penn State Altoona overcame their slow start to the first half to finish the period with 61 points and a 20-point lead.

Hilbert secured an early lead, going up 13-6 at the 15:17 mark following a three-pointer by Nathan Moore. Moore's jumper 32 seconds later kept the difference at seven points, 15-8.

But Penn State Altoona surged ahead, jumping on top 17-15 following a three-pointer from Bush at 13:22. Two Bush layups and a foul shot preceded a dunk by Jarrett Gardner (Live Oak, FL/Suwannee) and basket by Casey Parkins (Laurel, MD/Atholton) that increased the Lions' advantage to 26-17 by 11:53.

Later in the half, Word and Bush each converted on three-point plays to boost Penn State Altoona's lead to 44-29 by 5:51. Dominic Frucella (Duncansville, PA/Hollidaysburg) connected on a three-pointer at 5:36, and Alex McClellan (York, PA/West York) scored a layup at 5:25 to make it a 20-point game, 49-29. Three minutes later, the lead remained 20 points, 57-37, following three straight buckets by Y'shua Bragg (Pittsburgh, PA/Carrick). Hicks' layup with six seconds remaining set the halftime score at 61-41.

Hilbert made a push early in the second half, closing the gap to as little as 13 points after a pair of Jackson free throws that cut the Hawks' deficit to 63-50 at the 17:55 mark.

But Penn State Altoona did not allow Hilbert to make up any more ground, as the Lions increased their lead to over 20 points. Hicks' jumper at 12:02 put the home team up 80-59, and layups by Bush, McClellan, and Varun Ajjarapu (Tampa, FL/Berkeley Prep) helped make it 87-67 by 8:43. Five minutes later, two McClellan layups and two Hicks free throws pushed Penn State Altoona's point total to over 100, giving the Lions a 101-76 advantage. Frucella hit two more three-pointers within the closing 1:08 of the contest, and the Lions ended the game with a 27-point victory.

Penn State Altoona finished the day with scoring advantages over Hilbert in points off of turnovers (37-18), points in the paint (58-48), fastbreak points (41-26), and bench points (60-31). The Lions shot 53.6 percent from the field as a team.

Next, Penn State Altoona men's basketball continues its three-game homestand against a strong non-conference opponent, Salisbury University, this Wednesday, January 12 at 1:00 p.m. That game precedes an important AMCC matchup on Saturday, January 15 at 4:00 p.m., when conference foe Penn State Behrend comes to campus.

"Next up is one of the biggest weeks of the season for us," said McGreal. "We have a huge non-conference game against well-known Salisbury University, and then a big one on Saturday when the other Lions come to Adler. We'll take tomorrow off, then start to prepare on Monday. Go Lions!"