Penn State Mont Alto Men's Basketball spent the weekend playing two competitive NCAA Division III teams at the Widener University Tip-Off Classic Tournament.
Mont Alto faced home team Widener for the opening game at 6:00 p.m. 2-0 Mont Alto was not able to find a win against Widener, trailing 28-69 in the first half; Widener came out just as strong adding 46 points to the board. Mont Alto only found themselves scoring 19 to end the game with a core of 115-47. "We played a very tough and well coached team on Friday night," Head Coach Jack Schenzel comments. "We started out great but after a few minutes Widener started to assert themselves. Our shooting was not able to keep up with theirs. It was a great learning experience for the team. We will not see another team of that caliber all year. Widener University has four or five players who would be very good Division II players."
Jeremiah Mitchell led the scoring with 11 points and 4 rebounds. Sophomore and Captain Cameron Bowens tallied 8 points, 4 rebounds and one steal.
Saturday brought another chance for Mont Alto, playing Delaware Valley College in the consolation game of the tournament. Mont Alto had the lead at halftime, 39-34 and continued to battle for the win until the last few minutes of the game when Delaware pulled away for the win, 86-73.
"We played much better Saturday against Delaware Valley. I was happy with the effort we put forth on the defensive end," Coach Schenzel added. "We did a better job of making better decisions on offense Saturday. We were in the lead until about the three minute point but they were able to make some shots to get a lead. We could not get the big shot to fall and the final spread was due to foul shots when we put them on the line to try to get the ball back."
Senior Captain Dan Smay led Mont Alto with 24 total points. He was five-for-seven in three point field goal attempts and five-for-five at the line. Freshman Tyree Maeser had six assists and five rebounds.
"This tournament was a great experience and will help us down the road. Both teams would be top teams in our league at the very least. I want to congratulate Dan Smay for making All Tournament. Jeremiah Mitchell had a solid weekend scoring in double figures both games," Coach Schenzel added.
Next game, Mont Alto will be on the road to Hood College Monday November 28th for a 7:00 p.m. game.