McKeesport, Pa. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Men’s Basketball team’s (1-0, 0-0) offense was firing on all cylinders when they defeated Butler County Community College (0-1, 0-0) 149-71 on Monday. PSUGA set the new record for most points scored in a half, putting up 79 points in the first half as they kept their foot on the gas pedal to pick up their first victory of the season.
The score was close the first three minutes of the game, with the teams battling to a 10-5 PSUGA lead; however, PSUGA quickly blew the game open going on an 18-0 run over the next six minutes. Halfway through the quarter, PSUGA led 35-11. Makis Rivera (Pittsburgh, PA./Imani Christian Academy) led the way scoring seven points during the run that got PSUGA out in front.
The offense would continue to roll, outscoring Butler County CC 44-25 over the final ten minutes of the half. The men went into the locker room leading 79-36. The 79 points were the most points put up in any one half by the PSUGA Men’s Basketball team in history. Koran Fleming (Wilkinsburg, PA./Westinghouse HS) led the way with 26 of his team-high 41 points in the half.
The second half saw 14 different PSUGA players get on the board as they added 70 more points to get to their 149 point total on the day. Fleming finished the second half with 15 points that included a 3-5 effort from beyond the arc. Kenny Rouse (Duquesne, PA./West Mifflin HS) added an extra spark off the bench adding 10 of his 17 points over the final 20 minutes of the game.
PSUGA would unload their bench over the final five minutes with every player who dressed playing at least two minutes in the game. Sophomore Kenny Eleam (Wilkinsburg, PA./Taylor Allderdice HS) and Sullivan Conway (Brentwood, PA./Brentwood HS) were two of the standouts adding eight and five points respectively.
Rivera led the defensive efforts picking up 11 rebounds to go along with his 10 points for his first double-double of the 2019-2020 season. Markel Sayles (Pittsburgh, PA./Perry HS) led the team with five assists and helped spread the ball around with six different players ending the day in double digits.
The PSUGA Men’s Basketball team looks ahead to their homecoming week Tip-off Tournament this Friday and Saturday. It starts a string of three games in six days that will test this PSUGA team as they try to make a fifth straight Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) playoff run.
The PSUGA Men’s Basketball team returns to action on Friday when they take on Kent State Tuscarawas in game two of the PSUGA Tip-off Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.