Mont Alto Men’s Basketball Breeze by PSU Beaver

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

MONT ALTO, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto men's basketball team recovered from an early deficit to play its best basketball of the season in a 87-65 win over PSU Beaver. Mont Alto grabbed a 50-35 lead at the halftime break on Friday night and were equally as dominant in the second half to improve to 7-2 and 5-0 in the PSUAC.

Inside the Box Score

• Both teams shot relatively well from the field with Mont Alto finishing with a 46.7% (35-of-75) clip from the field and knocked down 85.7 percent of their free throw attempts.
• Penn State Beaver (3-4, 2-3 PSUAC) didn't have an answer for the inside combination of John Teague (Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown) and JR Powe (Frederick, Md / Thomas Johnson). Teague finished with a double-double at 20 points and 13 rebounds. Both forwards played 21 minutes as Powe scored 18 points doing most of his damage in the first half.
• Mont Alto outscored the visitors 44-26 in points in the paint. PSUMA also outrebounded them by 20 with their bench also contributing 25 points.
• PSU Beaver were led in scoring by John Foster who scored 22 points, while fellow forward Jeremy Redwine added 20.

How it Happened

• The visiting Nittany Lions jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead catching Mont Alto on their heels. Marcus Roper (Frederick, Md / Thomas Johnson) got the scoring started for PSUMA with a 3-pointer. After trailing 14-8, Mont Alto rattled off six-straight points to force the tie. The teams traded baskets for the next eight minutes or so. The largest margin between either squad during that stretch was a Beaver 32-28 lead.
• Mont Alto began to heat up from beyond the arc and stretched its lead to 45-35 after a Quintyn Flemister (Harrisburg, Pa. / Harrisburg) trey. Over the final 5:49 of the half PSUMA outscored the visitors 18-7 and went into the halftime break with a 50-35 lead.
• PSUMA pounded the ball again in the paint to begin the second half and were scoring at will opening a 61-35 lead after a JR Powe (Frederick, Md / Thomas Johnson) bucket.
• Mont Alto's lead swelled to as much as 38 with 12:04 remaining (71-37). They put it in cruise control down the stretch to hold on for the win.

Mont Alto will have quick turnaround when it hosts Penn State Fayette on Saturday, December 7. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.