McKeesport, Pa. – After picking up their third straight win vs. CCAC-Boyce on day one of the PSUGA Tip-off Tournament, the Penn State Greater Allegheny Men’s Basketball Team (3-0, 0-0) is right back at it for Day Two of the Tournament when they are pitted against Penn Highlands, who beat PSU-New Kensington on day one of the tournament.
It was a hard-fought game for PSUGA against CCAC-Boyce and it definitely was not the prettiest game in the world, but they did pull out the victory to move to 3-0 on the season. They fell behind early in the game as CCAC-Boyce scored the first 10 points of the game. However, PSUGA got big contributions from the bench as Kenny Rouse (Duquesne, Pa./West Mifflin) hit two big three-point shots to jump start the offense and it sent PSUGA into the halftime break leading 42-32. CCAC-Boyce would fight all the way until the last minute of the ball game as George Prota (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) and Jordan Payne (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) sealed the deal on the victory.
Jordan Payne continued his impressive offensive performance this season leading PSUGA with 20 points on the day despite not playing most of the first half. Payne has now scored at least 16 points in each of the first three games for PSUGA. Kenny Rouse finished the day with 14 points good for the second leading scorer on the day. George Prota just missed his third straight double-double finishing with 13 points and a team leading nine rebounds on the day.
PSUGA has now won three straight games to start the season, which is the best start in Program History. PSUGA is looking to make it back-to-back PSUAC Championships in 2017/18 and are trying to make it back to the USCAA National Tournament, where they finished in 3rd place last season.
PSUGA looks to make it four in a row today, however, it will be no easy task as they battle Penn Highlands. Penn Highlands also picked up a win on Day one of the PSUGA Tip-off Tournament as they defeated Penn State New Kensington 82-77. It was another close game in this Tournament as it too came down to the final seconds of the game. Antonio Carter would hit the game winning free throws in the final seconds of the contest to get Penn Highlands the win.
The history of this matchup gives PSUGA a slight edge as in five total matchups, PSUGA has a 3-2 record vs. Penn Highlands. In last year’s PSUGA Tip-off Tournament, PSUGA got the win over Penn Highlands in game two coming out on top 96-76. It was a big game for Curtis Newby (Sharon, Pa./Sharon HS) and George Prota as each put up 20 points in the contest to lead the team and Prota led the team with 10 rebounds.
The action for day two of the PSUGA Tip-off Tournament kicks off at 1 p.m. as CCAC-Boyce takes on Penn State New Kensington. Then, PSUGA takes the court at 3 p.m. as they battle Penn Highlands.
