No One Gave Up....

One thing that Mont Alto fans know is that no matter how far the men's basketball team is down don't leave the stands before the final horn sounds.  Today's PSUAC playoff game against Greater Allegheny was another one of those games that they fans were skeptical about.  However, the fans were also part of the reason Mont Alto won the game.

Mont Alto jumped out to a quick lead thanks to the Corey Meyers hitting a 3 pointer to start off the game in his last game ever at Mont Alto gym.  Mont Alto looked good to start, hitting a few quick shots.  Greater Allegheny had their own idea though on how things should go.  Curtis Newby (2) and Jordan Payne (0) couldn't miss, and took Greater Allegheny on a 26-4 run to end the half going up 46-33.

Mont Alto had been in this position before, and had a long talk at the half about never giving up.  Defense would be the key to winning, and everyone knew it.  Mont Alto came out in the second half with determination, but Greater Allegheny wasn't laying down either.  Mont Alto got down even more as Greater Allegheny built the lead up to 19 points.

Here is where Mont Alto knows to never quit, and the fans were in the same mentality.  With each defensive stop the fans grew louder and louder.  Even if Greater Allegheny hit a shot the bench and the fans wouldn't let the players on the floor hang their heads.  Mont Alto kept plugging away on both ends of the court.  A couple of big rebounds and a few tough shots later Mont Alto finally came to within 2 points, 73-71.  Meyers took over again as he got fouled driving to the lane, and knocked both of them down from the charity stripe to tie the game at 73 with 1.7 seconds left in regulation.

Greater Allegheny had a chance with their own half-court shot that was close enough to worry the Mont Alto fans, but it fell short to send the game into overtime.

Mont Alto stepped up their defense in the second half, and they stepped it up even more in overtime.  Greater Allegheny didn't score in the final 5 minutes, and Mont Alto put up 9 to take the game 82-73.

Meyers ended with 15 points as he went 6-6 from the free throw line.  Jalen Smith and Jerome Evans both had 13 rebounds for Mont Alto, and they put up 18 and 17 points respectively.  Mont Alto shot 22-26 from the free throw line.

Mont Alto will play Penn State Fayette on Tuesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center for the PSUAC Championship at 9:00 pm.