Men’s Basketball Clinch Home Playoff Game with Win over Shenango

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

MONT ALTO, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto men's basketball team held on down the stretch for a 65-61 win over PSU Shenango on Saturday. The victory clinched Mont Alto a home PSUAC playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 19 as the team improved to 17-6 overall and 14-3 in the conference with two regular season games remaining.

Inside the Box Score

• PSUMA had four different players finish in double figures. John Teague (Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown) and Quintyn Flemister (Harrisburg, Pa. / Harrisburg) each scored 12 points. Tegaue recorded a double-double by grabbing 10 boards.
• Seniors Jalen Smith (Ranson, W.Va. / Jefferson) and Kevin Holston (Fort Washington, Md. / Friendly) poured in a combined 22 points.
• Mont Alto was held to 43.6 percent shooting from the floor in a game, which saw three ties and eight different lead changes.
• Gannon Murray led all scorers for Shenango with 22 points. He shot 11-of-26 from the field.

How it Happened

• It was raining three's early on including a Kevin Holston (Fort Washington, Md. / Friendly) triple that put Mont Alto up 10-3 and forced a Shenango timeout. The visitors came out of the break on an 11-4 run and tied it up at 14 points apiece with 13:58 remaining in the half.
• Shenango took their first lead of the game at 16-14, but Mont Alto responded with another trey, this one came from Drew Pitzer (Bunker Hill, W.Va. / Musselman) to retake the lead. Holston connected on a 3-pointer that put his team up 31-24 with under six minutes left in the half.
• PSUMA maintained its lead down the stretch and went into halftime up 34-31. The Lions connected on 5-of-14 attempts from downtown. They opened the second half recharged, which included a Smith chase down block. Another hustle play from John Teague (Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown) earned his team second chance points on a layup that was assisted by Marcus Roper (Charles Town, W.Va. / Jefferson).
• Mont Alto couldn't buy a bucket for the middle part of the fourth quarter, but still maintained a lead and were up 45-42 with 12:51 left after a Terrell Campbell (Germantown, Md. / St. John's College Prep) trey.
• The visitors hit a big bucket to cut the deficit to 51-50 at the 8:06 mark. Mont Alto called a timeout, but Shenango took a 54-53 lead out of the break. After the score was tied up at 57 points apiece, Flemister knocked down a 3-pointer that put Mont Alto up for good. The team connected on its free throws in the final minute.

Mont Alto returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 12 in a road contest against PSU New Kensington. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m.