Men's Basketball- PSUAC Quarterfinals: Penn State Mont Alto 74, Penn State Hazleton 71

MONT ALTO, Pa.- Penn State Mont Alto men's basketball faced off against Penn State Hazleton on Tuesday evening in the PSUAC Quarterfinals. Veron Talla was dominate on the boards with 26 points to go along with 25 rebounds in the winning effort. Lawson Hopkins added 16 points on 5 of 11 shooting in 36 minutes of action. Vincent Frene scored 10 points off the bench in 28 minutes. Andre Campbell was the leading scorer for Hazleton with 22 points. Thomas Loughry contributed 16 off the bench. 

Hazleton had the edge early, hitting six three pointers throughout the first half. The visitors led 8-4 with 17:11 left in the first half as Ryan Liero converted from downtown. Mont Alto was able to regain the lead as Hopkins made a layup as Mont Alto went ahead 13-10. Loughry quickly tied the score back up at 13-13 following a Hazleton timeout. Hazleton scored the next eight points of the game, capped off by a three pointer by Jaden Aladetohun. Hazleton held a six point lead at several times in the remainder of the half and Mont Alto cut the score to 32-28 on a Talla layup to end the half. The tale of the first half was the long distance shooting as Mont Alto was held to 1 of 11 from deep and Hazleton went 6 of 15.

Mont Alto found itself down eight in the early minutes of the second half as Andre Campbell converted on a three point play with 17:06 remaining. Talla made a three and Hopkins converted his own three point play to trim the lead to 40-38. Frene gave Mont Alto the lead by one with a clutch three pointer with 15:37 left. With Hazleton leading 57-56 with six and change left, Adam Diallo came off the bench and hit an unassisted three pointer. Loughry pushed the advantage for Hazleton back up to six on a jumper with just under five minutes on the clock.

Down 66-60 with 3:37 left, Mont Alto went on a 6-0 spurt on baskets by Talla and a three pointer by Hopkins. Mont Alto would get several key defensive stops on the next few possessions and sealed the game at the foul line to advance to Friday's semifinals at Penn State York 74-71.

Up Next: Mont Alto at Penn State York, Friday 8pm (PSUAC Semifinals)