Penn State Mont Alto hosted the first annual John Benchoff Basketball Tournament. This tournament was sponsored by UFinancial. John Benchoff was a long time employee and successful basketball coach at Penn State Mont Alto.
The tournament kicked off with a game between Penn State Du Bois and Central Penn. Central Penn came out on top with an 87-78 win. They went on to the championship game on Saturday. Devon Dorsey had a double-double, scoring 28 points and adding 19 boards.
Mont Alto played in the main event on Friday night against Davis College. The team played aggressive in their first tournament of the season. Keven King had an outstanding game scoring 19 points, recording 3 rebounds and adding three steals. He was an offensive threat and led the team to a 79-55 victory. Jeffery Bowie and Sharif Welton each got on the board with double figures, scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively. Welton and Derek Null each grabbed 8 rebounds. "Friday night we came out flat but I was impressed with the bench, they gave us a much needed spark," Coach Schenzel comments. "Keven King played very well for us and newcomer Sharif Welton as his first action as a Mont Alto basketball player."
Davis College and DuBois faced off on Saturday afternoon in the MAC Building. Both teams played hard and fought until the end. Woody Mitchell led Du Bois with 20 points and John Hau had a team high 11 rebounds. Du Bois controlled the game from the start and finished with an 84-62 victory.
Mont Alto came out looking for the win in the championship game against Central Penn. The game was close throughout the whole game.
After being down 12 points at halftime, Mont Alto came out strong after the break. They knew there were points needed to get back into the game. Bobby Ingram, freshman, led the team with 13 points and King added 12. Welton, who was a reserve after just coming back from a pre-season hand injury, had a team high of six rebounds.
The end of the game was nearing with the scored tied, both teams scrambling for the final points. With only a few seconds remaining on the clock, Central Penn had the ball at the half court line. There was an opportunity for a last second shot from that line and they took it. Central Penn won the game on a shot thrown up from half court that, unfortunately for Mont Alto, it went in. Central Penn won 70-67. Conner Arnold from Central Penn had 24 points and Dorsey led their team with 11 rebounds.
Central Penn won the tournament but Mont Alto gave it their all. "We played a very well coached team in Central Penn," Coach Schenzel adds. "Unfortunately we fell one shot short to the #1 ranked team in the USCAA." They look to continue to play with such intensity throughout the rest of the season.
All-Tournament Team
Tournament MVP- Devon Dorsey- Central Penn
Wes Kirkland- Central Penn|
Colton Lewis- Davis College
Woody Mitchell- Penn State Dubois
Keven King- Penn State Mont Alto
Sharif Welton-Penn State Mont Alto
The PSUAC regular season starts November 28th, when Mont Alto takes on Penn State York on the road.
