By Tabi Hussain
For the Collegiate Review
The Penn State Altoona Men’s Basketball team is off to a decent start as the team’s current record stands at 2 wins and 4 losses. So far into the season, it seems to be that all the games the Men’s Basketball team has lost so far have been very close in score ranging from 1 point to only 11 points. The latest game the Altoona Men’s team played was on November 27 against Salisbury, but unfortunately took an 89-81 loss.
It is interesting to see how the Penn State Altoona Men’s Basketball team can pick themselves up after a rocky start. Last season they had an overall record of 19 wins and 8 losses, resulting in a 0.704 win percentage under Head Coach David McGreal. That season also included tremendous 15 point plus wins against Medaille, Pitt-Bradford, and Hilbert. Furthermore, last season Altoona Men’s Basketball team was victorious over one of their biggest rivals, La Roche University, with a 88 to 72 point win.
This season, Altoona will face off against La Roche on February 15th at 7:00 PM, and it will be interesting to see how Head Coach David McGreal will be able to prepare his players to face off against their rivals and come out victorious. Furthermore, especially after having a rocky start after coming off a great 2021-2022 season, we will have to keep an eye out on if Head Coach McgGreal adjusts anything within the team to seek more wins. The Altoona Lions will be taking the court today against Marietta at 7:30 PM, it will be a must watch game as the Lions seek to improve to 3 wins and 4 losses.
Currently for the 2022-2023 season, the starting line-up consists of Savion Word running the Point, Robbie Hicks as Shooting Guard, Alex McClellan as Small Forward, Drew Harmun as Power Forward, and PJ Charles as Center. PJ Charles has been leading the pack with 14.7 points per game at a 53.7% field goal percentage, and not to mention he has been grabbing an impressive 7.8 rebounds a game for the Altoona Lions.
I was able to take the time and get to talk to a current freshman on the Altoona Men’s Basketball team, Justin Hedges, and got an insight about his thoughts so far on the season.
Justin Hedges: “I’m optimistic about the season for sure, I know we have the experience, leadership, and veterans on the squad that can lead us to win our conference this year.”
As the Altoona Lions are looking to secure a conference championship and have yet another winning season, it’ll be exciting to see how the season unfolds. WE ARE!