ALTOONA, Pa. - The Hood College men's basketball team opened the second half with a 12-0 run and held on to defeat Penn State Altoona in the first round of the ECAC Division III Championships 79-76

Up Next

• With the win, the Blazers advance to play Drew University on Friday, March 6 at 8 p.m. at Gwynedd Mercy University. 

Inside the Box Score

• Michael Riley played just 15 minutes but led Hood with both 16 points and six rebounds. The senior went 9-of-10 at the free throw line and 3-for-6 from the floor. 
• Keith Claiborne Jr. scored 15 points, his most in a Blazer uniform, on 7-of-12 shooting. He added three steals. 
• Mason Wang had 14 points and three steals. 

How it Happened

• Hood trailed 43-42 at halftime, a deficit quickly erased by a 3-pointer from Evan Wang just 37 seconds after play resumed. After Mason Wang scored to make it 47-43, the Blazers forced four straight turnovers. Riley was huge during the run, assisting on the scores by both Wang twins, then scoring the next seven points and tallying back-to-back steals. He sank a pair of free throws at 17:35 for Hood's biggest lead 54-43. 
• The Lions responded with a 17-6 run of their own to tie the game at 60-60 with 11:01 to go. Six different players scored for Altoona during the run, punctuated by Alex McClellan's 3-pointer to tie the game. 
• A minute later, Evan Wang drove to the basket, made the layup and was fouled. The junior hit the free throw for a 63-60 lead. On the Lions' next possession, Mason Wang stole the ball and pushed it ahead to his brother, who was fouled and sank two more foul shots for a five-point lead with 9:46 remaining. 
• Andruw Harman scored four straight points before Kobe Butler found Lual Chol open underneath to make it 67-64. Cameron Gardner-Nicholson then scored back-to-back baskets including a dunk which gave Altoona a 68-67 edge with 6:59 left. 
• Claiborne scored the game's next seven points to swing the momentum back to Hood. He immediately answered for the Blazers with a 3-point play and a 70-68 score in favor of Hood. Two more layups by the senior made it 74-68 with 5:08 remaining. 
• Austin Krise stole the ball with 2:42 to go and Harman was fouled at the other with Altoona down 75-73. He made the first but missed the second and Claiborne got the rebound. McClellan came up with a steal for the Lions and Gardner-Nicholson was fouled, giving Altoona a chance to take the lead. He missed both free throws, however, and Claiborne again cleared the rebound. On the ensuing possession, Mason Wang found Tyler Evans for a layup and a 77-74 lead with exactly 2:00 to play. 
• Harman hit two foul shots with 1:08 on the clock to cut Hood's lead to 77-76. Wang got into the paint and converted 17 seconds later for a 79-76 Blazer lead. 
• Harman could not knock down a 3-pointer with 38 seconds on the clock. Hood need to take one more shot and after Wang missed a 3-pointer, Will Pataki got the offensive rebound to seal the win. 
• Penn State Altoona opened the game with a 24-14 run over the first seven minutes. Hood fought back with a 15-4 run, capped by five points from Wang for a 29-28 Blazer lead with 8:13 on the clock. The rest of the half featured eight ties or lead changes. Hood took a 42-41 lead on a basket by Wang with 51 seconds to go but Harman scored on the Lions' next possession for a one-point lead at the half. 

Analysis

• The Blazers overcame an off shooting night by making more free throws than Altoona attempted. Hood made just 5-of-26 from 3-point range (19 percent) but sank 24-of-31 at the charity stripe (77 percent). Altoona, meanwhile, went just 13-for-23 (57 percent). 
• The Lions did not fare much better than Hood from behind the arc, hitting just 7-of-28 (25 percent). They shot 53 percent overall in the first half before the Blazers closed down on the defense and held Altoona to only 32 percent in the second half. 

For the Opponent

• Harman finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. 
• Gardner-Nicholson and Jack Kusters scored 12 points apiece and Robbie Hicks added 10 off the bench. Gardner-Nicholson grabbed nine boards and blocked four shots. 

Notes

• Hood improved to 17-10 overall. 
• Penn State Altoona closed its season at 16-12. 
• The Blazers are 3-3 all-time in the ECAC Championships. 
• MAC Commonwealth teams went 2-2 in the first round. Albright joined Hood in the win column, while Widener and Alvernia suffered defeat.