Men’s Basketball Finishes Season 20-9 After Battle with Southern Maine CC

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

UNIONTOWN, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto men's basketball team battled the No. 4 seeded Southern Maine Community College in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national tournament consolation game and was defeated 93-76 on Monday, March 4.

Inside the Box Score

• Sophomore guard Quintyn Flemister (Harrisburg, Pa. / Harrisburg) sparked a second half comeback utilizing his mid-range game going 12-of-17 overall from the field for 26 points. Senior Jalen Smith (Ranson, W.Va. / Jefferson) picked up his scoring in the second half and finished with 20 points connecting on 6-of-6 free throw attempts. The two-time first team USCAA All-American scored 20 or more points 15 times this season.
• Marcus Roper (Charles Town, W.Va. / Jefferson) stuffed the stat sheet in 31 minutes he scored six points, assisted six buckets, swiped four steals and grabbed four rebounds. He finished the season averaging 8.3 points per game and shot 32.5 percent from 3-point range.
• SMCC had an efficient first half outscoring Mont Alto 52-26.
• Mont Alto were unable to contain the Seawolves from shooting from downtown as the No. 4 seed in the tournament hit 12-of-27 attempts and shot 50 percent from the field.

How it Happened

• SMCC came out of the gates firing from downtown and Mont Alto were unable to contain them as they drained 8-of-16 in the first half. Antencio Martin and DeSean Cromwell both hit a pair as they went into halftime leading 52-26.
• The Seawolves stretched the lead all the way out to 33 points (71-38) before Mont Alto finally began to make stops on the defensive end of the floor with around 13 minutes left in game.  The Nittany Lions went on a 24-7 run to cut the deficit to 78-62 after a John Teague (Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown) layup that was assisted by Roper.
• PSUMA continued to chip away at the Seawolves lead and trailed 83-72 after a Flemister fast break layup with 3:21 remaining.
• SMCC closed the game on a 10-4 run for the final score of 93-76.

Mont Alto finished the 2018-19 season with a 20-9 overall record and their 16-3 mark in conference was the best in the PSUAC West. The Nittany Lions overall win total jumped eight games from a season ago, as they will look to build off of it into the offseason.