Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Penn State Altoona's Dwayne Jones shoots over Mount Aloysius' De'Von Haggans.

CRESSON — Penn State Altoona men’s basketball coach Dave McGreal originally recruited Nehemiah Frye when he was in high school in Virginia before he committed elsewhere.

“This is the first year we’re big at every position for the most part,” McGreal said. “We’re able to do things defensively that we haven’t in the past. Nehemiah is a kid I recruited out of high school and he went to another college last year as a freshman. I saw him (in the transfer portal), and I said “Dude, you need to come play for me,” and he did, and we’re glad he did.”

McGreal was happy to know he had a second chance to bring the sophomore forward to Altoona.

Tuesday night his presence was felt, especially during the second half, as he registered 20 points and six rebounds to lift the Lions to a 90-86 victory in a thriller over Mount Aloysius at the Mount Aloysius College Athletic Convocation & Wellness Center.

Frye was 6-for-11 from the field and went 7-for-9 from the free throw line as the Lions shot as a team 49 percent from the field and 61 percent at the line.

Both teams had a back-and-forth first half as late in the frame it was Julius Cummings for the Mounties draining a three and Will Hagwood adding another to make it 45-41 Mount with under a minute to play.

Frye would end that run as he knocked down a triple of his own cutting the Lion deficit to 45-44 at the break.

“They outperformed us in the last four or five minutes which again in conference play, that’s what it comes down to most of the time,” Mount Aloysius coach Marcus Thomas said. “I thought we settled for some tough shots I didn’t think we finished possessions well whether it was an offensive rebound or a foul.”

Coming out of the break Frye had extra help from Dwayne Jones as he put away a dunk and a putback to put the Lions up 50-45. Jones finished with a double-double recording 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“We talked about how we had the size and advantage and we should be controlling the boards,” McGreal said “When we got in here and I saw that stat, I let them know quickly. The second half, we negated most of it.”

Portage grad Kaden Claar had 18 points, going 7-for-16 from the field for the Lions.

But the Mounties had answers of their own in Ronnie McClain, who drained five 3-pointers on his way to scoring 17 points — going 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. He nailed a key bucket to help cut the deficit at one point to 73-72.

“Normally, they don’t shoot the 3 well, but against us they made 14,” McGreal said. “Some of that is our bad defense, but you got to give Ronnie McClain credit. He wasn’t even on the scouting report. When stuff like that happens, it’s great for the team to regroup and still take care of business.”

Points in the paint, fastbreak points and points off turnovers ended up being the difference, though, as the Lions led all three categories (22-12, 50-32, and 43-16).

“We’re not a team that is going to live and die by the three,” Mount coach Marcus Thomas said. “That’s not how we want to play. We have some really good athletes. We have some really good guys who can get to the rim. We got to play through our strengths, and play through the paint. We settled for perimeter threes too much.”

The Lions started to put away the game with 2:30 left to play as Kal-El Gentles floated one into the bucket to make it 85-84, before Penn State Altoona put the game away at the line.

The Mount is at Gwyneed Mercy on Saturday, while Penn State Altoona hosts Chatham on Sunday.

PENN STATE ALTOONA (4-3): Jones 7-12 1-2 16, Frye 6-11 7-9 20, Kargo 1-3 0-2 2, Claar 7-16 3-3 18, Gentles 6-8 2-4 15, Sheetz 2-7 1-2 7, Charles 3-8 0-2 6, Martinez 1-2 0-0 2, Baskerville 2-4 0-1 4, Johansson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-71 14-23 90.

MOUNT ALOYSIUS (2-4): Haggans 12-18 0-4 26, Hudgins 1-6 2-2 4, Hagwood 7-16 0-0 18, Tinch 1-6 0-0 2, Busbee 3-13 4-5 11, Cummings 2-10 2-5 6, Waters 0-0 0-0 0, McClain 5-9 2-2 17, Morrow 0-1 2-4 2. Totals: 31-79 10-17 86.

Halftime – Mount Aloysius, 45-44. 3-point goals – Penn State Altoona 6-23 (Jones 1-4, Frye 1-4, Kargo 0-2, Claar 1-4, Gentles 1-1, Sheetz 2-5, Charles 0-1, Baskerville 0-2); Mount Aloysius 14-37 (Haggans 2-3, Hudgins 0-3, Hagwood 4-9, Tinch 0-2, Busbee 1-9, Cummings 2-5, McClain 5-6). Assists – Penn State Altoona 19 (Claar, Gentles 4); Mount Aloysius 22 (Haggans, Hagwood 4). Rebounds – Penn State Altoona 37 (Jones 10); Mount Aloysius 45 (Haggans 14). Total Fouls – Penn State Altoona 14, Mount Aloysius 22. Technical Fouls – Sheetz.