Beaver triumphs over Mont Alto in conference road win, 59-47

By: Matylda Zamudio

Mont Alto, Pa. –- The Penn State Beaver Lions earned their fourth PSUAC win rival Penn State Mont Alto on road Friday night, with the defense only allowing Mont Alto to go 8-32 from the field in the second half.

Freshman guard Keon Butler (Annapolis/Star Severn School) scored a game-high 16 points and seven assists, and eight rebounds followed by freshman guard Sonny Martinez (Austin) with 12 points. Freshman forward/center Jeremy Redwine (Merced) earned a double-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks.

1st half: While Mont Alto got on the scoreboard initially, Beaver then took an early 8-3 lead after Martinez and Butler combined for two back-to-back 3-pointers. At 14:05, Mont Alto tied the game at 10-10, and the two teams traded the lead back and forth down to the 7:02 mark (21-18) until the Lions scored 9 unanswered points, taking a three-score lead (27-18). However, Mont Alto hacked Beaver's point-advantage to only five before the half (29-24).

2nd half: The game remained close first four and a half minutes until Redwine grabbed a defensive rebound which he followed by scoring a layup gave Beaver a three-score lead at 39-32. At 9:50, Brady got the ball back from Mont Alto, which led to Butler scoring a layup 32 seconds later to give Beaver a 10-point lead (50-40). 7:47: Mont Alto kept the game close, but Beaver's defense stepped up and forced five turnovers from Mont Alto as well as going on an 8-0 in the final four and a half minutes in the game. Rebounds were key for Beaver in the second, out-rebounding Mont Alto 22-14, and the defense held Mont Alto to only 25 percent shooting from the field in the second. Beaver defeated Mont Alto, 59-47. 

Box Score Highlights: Beaver built its largest lead of 12 points with only 27 seconds left in the game. Beaver shot 83.3 percent from the charity stripe (10-12), which was 13.3 percent higher than Mont Alto and shot 14.4 percent higher from the field. Beaver also outscored Mont Alto 20-11 on points off turnovers and 9-5 on second-chance points. Beaver also tallied up five more rebounds than Mont Alto (37-32).

The Beaver Lions lock down first place in the PSUAC Western standings (4-1) and improve to a 6-2 regular season record.

Beaver will be back at home for the PSU Beaver Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 15. Beaver's opponent is TBA.