Men’s Basketball Advance to PSUAC Semifinals

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

MONT ALTO, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto men's basketball team led from start to finish on Tuesday evening as they cruised past PSU Beaver for a 69-52 win. The Nittany Lions are really rolling winning 11-straight games and will now host Penn State York in the PSUAC Semifinals on Friday, Feb. 22.

Inside the Box Score

• Seniors Jalen Smith (Ranson, W.Va. / Jefferson) and Kevin Holston (Fort Washington, Md. / Friendly) piloted the offense for Mont Alto as Smith finished with a game-high 22 points and Holston netted 20 points.
• Smith also finished with a double-double grabbing 10 rebounds, while also dishing out a pair of assists.
• Mont Alto also utilized the talents of John Teague (Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown) in the post and he finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
• The Lions held Beaver to 20% shooting from the floor in the first half with the visitors finishing the contest 19-of-62 from the field (30.6%).
• Beaver's John Foster was held to 19 points. He also grabbed nine boards in the loss.

How it Happened

• Penn State Mont Alto held Beaver scoreless for the first eight-plus minutes of the game, but they didn't really take full advantage of their outstanding defense and led 9-2. Mont Alto's shots finally began to fall, and they held a 23-8 lead after a Jalen Smith (Ranson, W.Va. / Jefferson) 3-pointer at the 5:54 mark.
• Another Smith trey gave PSUMA the 32-13 advantage and the Nittany Lions took a 32-16 lead into the halftime break.
• Thanks to a free-flowing offensive attack, Mont Alto maintained a double-digit lead through the first five minutes of the second half. An extra pass led to a Kevin Holston (Fort Washington, Md. / Friendly) layup that put his team up 44-26. The bucket was assisted by Smith.
• Mont Alto maintained a 20-point lead until Beaver cut the deficit to 55-38 after an old fashion three-point play that was converted by John Foster with 8:01 remaining.
• Coach Schenzel called a full timeout after a Jalen Smith (Ranson, W.Va. / Jefferson) baby hook put his team up 62-45 with 3:24 left. Mont Alto held on down the stretch and made baskets when necessary.

Mont Alto will now host Penn State York (18-8, 13-7 PSUAC) in Friday's PSUAC Semifinals matchup at 7 p.m. York entered the postseason tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Division as Mont Alto edged them 82-78 in their regular season meeting on Jan. 18.