Mont Alto, PA. – It took a come from behind effort, but the #18 Penn State Greater Allegheny Men’s Basketball Team (9-4, 6-3) picked up their fifth straight win on Tuesday night taking down Penn State Mont Alto (9-6, 6-3) 83-77. The win pulls PSUGA into a three-way tie for the top spot in the Penn State University Athletic Conference West Division with Mont Alto and Beaver after being in fifth place just four weeks ago.

It was Mont Alto that would start out with the momentum scoring the first five points of the game. PSUGA quickly erased that deficit with a 6-0 run that gave them the 6-5 lead just minutes into the game. The two teams battled back and forth jockeying for position throughout the half until Mont Alto got the advantage scoring eight of the final 11 points to head into halftime with a 39-33 advantage.

Tuesday marked the first time during this five-game win streak that PSUGA had entered halftime without the lead and they would be looking to make a comeback in the second half. After being limited in his last couple of games, it would be senior Jordon Payne (McKeesport, PA./McKeesport HS) who would help his team battle back in the game and come away with the victory.

Payne would lead his team on an 11-3 run over the first six minutes of the second half, with Payne scoring nine of the 11 points, that got PSUGA back out in front 44-42. Mont Alto would respond with seven unanswered points to take a 49-44 lead, but once again it would be PSUGA taking back the lead on a 8-0 run to make it PSUGA 55 Mont Alto 49 with 10 minutes to play.

PSUGA’s defense took it from there with a bend don’t break attitude that kept them in the lead for the rest of the game. Every time Mont Alto would get close, the PSUGA offense had an answer and took that to the 83-77 win.

After being limited in the first few games of 2019, Payne came out on fire putting up a team high 26 points, including four three-pointers, in the win. Mhonte Newsome (Baltimore, MD./Our Lady of Mt. Saint Carmel) continued his strong offensive performance as of late finishing with 19 points and a team leading 16 rebounds while Antonio Hill (West Mifflin, PA./West Mifflin HS) and Koran Flemming (Wilkinsburg, PA./Westinghouse HS) each finished with 12 points on the day.

Four of the five PSUGA starters finished in double digits in the win leading PSUGA to the 83-point attack. PSUGA now improves to a perfect 8-0 when the team scores 81 or more points in a game. After allowing 39 first half points, the defense was able to settle nicely and keep Mont Alto off the board just enough for PSUGA to be able to pick up the victory.

The PSUGA Men’s Basketball team is back in action on Friday when they are set to face PSU-Scranton at 8 p.m.