Posted: Jan 04, 2019
By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director
SHARON, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto men's basketball team began their second half of the 2018-19 season with a 75-64 win over Penn State Shenango. The results move Mont Alto's record to 8-5 overall and 5-2 in the PSUAC, while Shenago were handed their third conference loss of the season to fall to 4-8 overall.
Inside the Box Score
- Jalen Smith (Ranson, WVa. / Jefferson) was nearly unstoppable from the field shooting a blistering 82 percent (9-of-11) from the floor for a game-high 29 points. Smith knocked down five of his attempted seven shots from downtown and also chipped in four rebounds as well as three steals.
- Smith was the focal point of the Mont Alto offense for much of the night with Nick Jacoby (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) also finishing in double figures with 13 points.
- A key difference for the game was PSUMA's consistency from beyond the arc. Mont Alto connected on 11-of-26 shots from 3-point range, while PSU Shenango only knocked down three total.
- Senior Kevin Holston (Fort Washington, Md. / Friendly) had an active evening finishing with a game-high five blocks to go along with nine points.
- Gannon Murray who scored 26 points in the loss was the top scorer for PSU Shenango.
How it Happened
- Mont Alto jumped out to a quick 16-5 lead that was capped off by a Quintyn Flemister (Harrisburg, Pa. / Harrisburg) triple. During the early scoring run Jalen Smith (Ranson, WVa. / Jefferson) also knocked down a pair of shots from long distance.
- PSUMA used the early momentum to coast into the halftime break with a 14-point advantage at 38-24.
- Mont Alto built its largest lead of the game (20 points) within the second half at 16:57 mark with a Drew Pitzer (Bunker Hill, W.Va. / Musselman) jumper that put them up 48-28
- Smith scored 16 of his 29 points in the second half as he hit a couple of momentum killing buckets down the stretch.
Penn State Mont Alto remains on the road on Wednesday, January 9 as it will travel to Penn State DuBois for another PSUAC battle that is set to begin at 8 p.m.