PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Chatham Men's Basketball (0-2, 0-0 PAC) was defeated in a tight home opener by Penn State Altoona (1-1, 0-0 AMCC) by a final score of 82-77.

The Cougars took a 12-6 lead in the first four minutes of the game, with 5 of those points coming from Sophomore Sam Norfleet IV. The Nittany Lions responded with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to take the lead. Three-pointers from junior Drew Vizenor and graduate student Zach Genther put Chatham up 5, but Penn State Altoona again came back with a 12-2 run. Senior Jake TenBerge netted 4 of the 5 Cougar points before the break, but the Nittany Lions took a 5-point advantage at halftime.

Penn State Altoona grabbed control of the game in the second half with an 11-3 run out of the gate. Senior Easton Fulmer's layup plus one got Chatham within 52-49 with 13 minutes to play, and the Cougars hung within 6 points for the rest of the game. Senior Diaun Pinkett's layup plus one made the score 73-71 in favor of the Nittany Lions, and Chatham got within 1 point with just over a minute to play on Senior Lovenson Xavier's layup off an inbounds pass. The Cougars could not break through for the remainder of the contest, however, and Penn State Altoona made all four of their free throws in the final minute to ice the game.

Nehemiah Frye finished with a game-high 24 points on 11-17 shooting and had 9 rebounds for the Nittany Lions. Kaden Claar also pulled down 9 boards and recorded 18 points. Baelen Cage made a game-high 3 three-point baskets and registered 13 points, and Mason Kargo tallied a game-high 5 assists for Penn State Altoona, which shot 43.8% from the field for the game.

Xavier was Chatham's top scorer, netting 17 points on 7-17 shooting, adding 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Junior Donovan Callahan scored 11 points and was 4-8 from the field. Pinkett and TenBerge both finished with 10 points for the Cougars, who shot 94.7% from the charity stripe and 38.2% from the field for the game.

Chatham will get nine days to regroup before they host SUNY Potsdam on Friday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.