Men’s Basketball Dealt a Tough Conference Loss by PSU Greater Allegheny, 83-77

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

MONT ALTO, Pa. – In a Tuesday evening Penn State University Athletic Conference matchup, the visiting Penn State Greater Allegheny men's basketball team rode a second half comeback to deal Penn State Mont Alto an 83-77 PSUAC conference loss.

Inside the Box Score

• Penn State Mont Alto shot 47.6 percent from the field and knocked down 8-of-26 attempts from 3-point range.
• Jalen Smith (Ranson, W.Va. / Jefferson) scored 20 points in the loss and collected seven rebounds. Fellow senior Kevin Holston (Fort Washington, Md. / Friendly) has picked up his scoring in recent games and finished with 12 points.
• Marcus Roper (Charles Town, W.Va. / Jefferson), John Teague (Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown) and Quintyn Flemister (Harrisburg, Pa. / Harrisburg) provided secondary scoring off the bench with a combined 28 points.

Despite shooting 33.1 percent (11-of-33) in the first half, PSUGA came out of the halftime break and shot 53.1 percent from the floor to earn the victory over Mont Alto (9-6, 6-3 PSUAC). Jordon Payne was held in check in the team's first matchup of the season in which Mont Alto won by a 67-54 score. However, the senior guard finished his evening with 26 points on Tuesday, which included 19 in the second half.

Penn State Mont Alto opened on a 5-0 run, but the teams would essentially trade baskets until the final three minutes of the first half. PSUMA closed the final stretch of the half on an 11-5 run, which included a couple of John Teague (Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown) layups. The Lions led Greater Allegheny by a 39-33 score.

Mont Alto held onto the lead until the 17:12 mark of the second half when Jordon Payne tied it up at 42 points apiece with a transition layup. The teams traded the lead on two different occasions before Greater Allegheny went up for good in the final 12 minutes of the game.

Penn State Mont Alto is now in a three-way tie for first-place with PSU Greater Allegheny and PSU Beaver in the PSUAC West Division and will host Penn State York on Friday, January 18. Tip-off for the conference matchup is slated for 8 p.m.