The Penn State Mont Alto Men's Basketball team traveled to Juniata College for the Doc Greene Tournament December 9th and 10th.
Mont Alto faced Juniata College for a 7:30 p.m. Friday evening game. The first half started out rough for Mont Alto. The turnovers and low shooting percentage found Mont Alto trailing 19-38 going into halftime. "Juniata played very physical and we did not match that intensity," explained Head Coach Jack Schenzel. "We did not compete on every possession and Juniata played well, they are well coached. "
The second half Mont Alto came out the intensity to score, outscoring Juniata 36-33. Less turnovers were made by Mont Alto and more steals were recorded. Although Mont Alto made more points in the second half, it was not enough to make up for the first half.
Keven King came off the bench, tallying the most minutes for Mont Alto. King contributed 15 points for Mont Alto, 3 for 6 from the field and 9 for 9 from the free throw line. He grabbed seven rebounds and had three steals and one assist. "Keven played very well off the bench tonight," Coach Schenzel added.
Mont Alto had another chance to find a win on Saturday against New Jersey City University for a 2:00 p.m. game. NJCU came out in the first half scoring 41 points to Mont Alto's 20.
"We played a team that was almost half a foot taller at every position today. They were well coached and caused us trouble on offense. We struggled at shooting over their height," Coach Schenzel commented.
In the second half, Mont Alto increased their shooting percentage but NJCU continued to keep the lead on offense and defense. NJCU took home the win, 71-48.
"We have now played ten games and have a record of 3-2 against USCAA opponents," Coach Schenzel explained. "We have a lot of positives to build on right now. When we get back from break we will have 14 games left and 13 will be against conference opponents. We are in the mix to win our division and host a playoff game," Coach Schenzel added.
Keven King's outstanding performance on the court found him a place on the Doc Greene All-Tournament Team. Congratulations to Keven King!