Men’s Basketball Return from Holiday Break with Win over Williamson

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

MEDIA, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto men's basketball team returned from the holiday break and picked up right where they left off on Wednesday evening notching a 66-55 win over Williamson College of the Trades. The victory also marked the season sweep over the Mechanics with Mont Alto improving to 11-2. The Nittany Lions were ranked fifth in the latest USCAA Men's Division II Coaches Poll that was released earlier this afternoon by the national office.

Inside the Box Score

• Both teams once again played sound defense as Mont Alto picked up a 64-51 win over Williamson during the Benchoff Tournament on November 8. On Wednesday, PSUMA held Williamson to 30.5 percent shooting from the field, while converting 36.5 percent of its shots.
• A key difference in the game was the Nittany Lions bench outscoring the home team by a 26-8 margin. Darrius Bush (Martinsburg, W.Va. / Spring Mills) netted 11 points in 26 minutes including 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
• Junior guard Quintyn Flemister (Harrisburg, Pa. / Harrisburg) turned in another solid all-around effort with a team-high 15 points, two rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.
• Vontangoe Donzo poured in a game-high 21 points for Williamson and also had a double-double with 13 rebounds.
• The Mechanics just slightly outrebounded PSUMA by a 41-39 margin, but Mont Alto did grab nine offensive boards.

How it Happened

• Mont Alto ran out to a 13-6 lead just under eight minutes into the road game after JR Powe (Frederick, Md. / Thomas Johnson) converted on the back end of his free throw attempts.
• After a stretch of back and forth play from the two teams, Mont Alto grabbed its largest lead of the game with a Nevaes Gordon (Frederick, Md / Thomas Johnson) layup that made it 24-11. The bucket also forced a Mechanics timeout and they did rally closing out the half on a 15-6 run. PSUMA went into the halftime break with a 30-26 lead.
• Bush was able to swing the momentum into Mont Alto's favor with nine of his 11 points coming in the second half. He nailed a clutch trey after Williamson cut into the deficit, but his basket made it 46-39 with 8:53 remaining.
• Mont Alto's defense didn't let them down the stretch as they held on for the victory.

Penn State Mont Alto (11-2, 8-0 PSUAC) returns home on Tuesday, January 14 in a PSUAC contest against Penn State Shenango. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.