Mont Alto Starts Fast; Holds Off Beaver for 63-52 Win

By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director

MONT ALTO, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto men's basketball team collected its second straight conference win in a Penn State University Athletic Conference showdown with PSU Beaver on Wednesday evening. Mont Alto (11-6, 8-3 PSUAC) raced out to a 15-4 lead and never looked back in a convincing 63-52 win over Penn State Beaver.

Inside the Box Score

• Mont Alto displayed a balanced scoring attack on Wednesday with four different players finishing in double figures. Marcus Roper (Charles Town, W.Va. / Jefferson) scored a team-high 12 points, high school teammate Jalen Smith (Ranson, W.Va. / Jefferson) chipped in 10 points and four rebounds. Quintyn Flemister (Harrisburg, Pa. / Harrisburg) added 11 points and senior Drew Pitzer (Bunker Hill, W.Va. / Musslman) produced 10 points.
• The Lions shot 50 percent from the field (26-of-52) and were 6-of-18 from downtown.
• PSUMA held a 36-22 advantage in points scored in the paint and scored an additional 21 points off of turnovers.
• It was a two-man scoring punch for Beaver. Freshman guard John Foster tallied a game-high 25 points and Andrew Brady added 17 points.
• Mont Alto forced 17 turnovers.

How it Happened

• The first half belonged to Mont Alto, who stormed out to a 15-4 lead 8:11 into the game behind a bunch of easy layups in the paint. Terrell Campbell (Germantown, Md. / St. John's College Prep) upped PSUMA's lead to 26-11 and a Quintyn Flemister (Harrisburg, Pa. / Harrisburg) steal and transition bucket on the ensuing possession forced a Beaver timeout.
• Penn State Beaver wasn't able to get into a rhythm coming out of the timeout and trailed 38-21 going into the halftime break. Beaver was held to 8-of-23 from the field and 18.2 percent from downtown.
• Mont Alto maintained its double-digit advantage throughout the second half responding to many of the momentum changing baskets. It wasn't until the final minute of the game that Beaver cut the deficit to single digits on an Andrew Brady layup, which marked the 63-52 final.

Penn State Mont Alto will be back in action this coming Friday, January 25 in a PSUAC road contest against Penn State Schuylkill. Game time is slated for 8 p.m.