McKeesport, Pa. – 60-58, that was the score the last time the Penn State Greater Allegheny Men’s Basketball Team (12-6, 7-3) met up with Penn State York. PSUGA won the Penn State University Athletic Conference Championship in a game that relied mostly on their defense to pick up the win. On Saturday, the two teams met for the first time since that big game and it was the offense that shined this time around.
PSUGA’s offense put up 102 points on their way to a 102-75 win. The two teams kept things close early on, battling to a 28-22 score with 7:58 to go in the first half. However, PSUGA would open the game up for good going on back-to-back runs of 8-0 and 10-0 and went into halftime with a substantial 46-29 lead. After playing sloppy basketball against Penn State Mont Alto on Friday, PSUGA all but made up for it in the game on Saturday.
Jeremy McMunn (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) contributed 16 points in the first half and was on fire from beyond the arc going 2-4 in the quarter. Jordon Payne (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) had 16 points as well. The bench contributed 32 of the teams 46 first half points and that number would only go up as McMunn and Payne were just getting started on their big days.
PSU-York remained at least 20 points behind PSUGA for the entirety of the game as PSUGA’s defense continued to play well. The offense continued to thrive scoring 56-points in the second half, the most they have scored in a single half in any game this season. PSU-York has only allowed opponents to score 74.7 PPG this season and PSUGA put up 102 on the day.
Payne was a big part of the outburst scoring 22 points in the half including going 6-7 from the three-point line. Payne finished the day with 38 points falling just four points shy of the single game record at PSUGA of 42 points that was set by Petrie Addison in the 2014/2015 season.
McMunn finished with 21 points on the day and Curtis Newby (Sharon, PA./Sharon HS) collected another double-double scoring 13 points and collecting 17 rebounds. PSUGA shot 50% (40-80) as a team on the day and these efficient shots helped them secure the victory.
It was a convincing win for PSUGA proving that they can play with any team in the conference. After going 1-1 against PSUAC opponents over the weekend, PSUGA moves up to soul possession of third place in the conference. They trail PSU-Brandywine (14-5, 9-2) and PSU-Wilkes Barre (12-6, 8-2) for the top spot as they look to claim their second straight PSUAC title.
PSUGA plays their final road game of the regular season when they travel to PSU-New Kensington on Friday at 7 p.m. They will then finish the regular season at home with their final six games being in the Wunderly Gymnasium.
