PSUAC Men's Basketball Semifinals: Mont Alto 71, Schuylkill 59
Mont Alto men's basketball advanced to its first conference championship game since the 2019-20 season with a 71-59 win over Penn State Schuylkill. The PSUAC Championship will be played on Sunday at 1pm against Penn State DuBois from the Bryce Jordan Center.
Veron Talla led the offensive efforts for Mont Alto with 20 points and 14 boards in 29 minutes of action. Taralle Hayden was the second leading scorer with 15 points in 18 minutes of action. Mont Alto sealed the game late with clutch free throw shooting going 13 of 17 (76.5%) from the charity stripe.
Bryson Fleming pushed Mont Alto ahead early with a three pointer from Richard Burke to go ahead 8-5 with 14:57 left in the half. Schuylkill went on a 6-0 spurt to retake the lead 11-8. Bryson Fleming found Veron Talla near the rim for an and one to tie the game at 11-11 on the next possession.
Mont Alto created separation late in the first half as Tevin Venson hit a three to move ahead 28-23 and Taralle Hayden followed that up with a layup to push the lead to seven. Hayden converted on a three with :12 left in the first half to push Mont Alto up 38-26 at the break.
Veron Talla opened the second half with his own 4-0 spurt to push the Mont Alto advantage to 42-26 with 19:15 left. Schuylkill would take advantage of a Mont Alto cold stretch as an Isaac Lane jumper cut the deficit to two points with 10:28 remaining as the visitors trailed 46-44. Another 4-0 run by Talla pushed the lead back to six.
Layups by Devin Adams and Amir Gray had Schuylkill down just four points with 4:24 to go. A dunk by Talla and points from Richard Burke and free throws from Tevin Venson pushed the Mont Alto lead back to ten with 1:24 left. Burke went 4 for 4 from the line to seal the game in the final minute as Mont Alto advances in the PSUAC Playoffs with a 71-59 win.
Mont Alto Leaders:
Veron Talla 20 points, 14 rebounds
Taralle Hayden 15 points, 3 assists
Schuylkill Leaders:
Isaac Lane 19 points, 9 rebounds
Makhi Jones 18 points
