Muhlenberg survives two overtimes to beat Milton Hershey, finish fifth

Jay’Daniel Mosquera matched his career high with six 3-pointers and scored 25 points as ninth-seeded Muhlenberg outlasted sixth-seeded Milton Hershey 79-77 in two overtimes Wednesday to finish fifth in the District 3 Class 5A Tournament.

The Muhls (17-10) trailed by seven points in the first overtime before getting a pair of baskets from Alex Collado and a 3-pointer by Mosquera to send the game to a second overtime. They went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the first overtime.

The Muhls prevailed because they were able to hold 6-3 senior Malachi Thomas to just one basket in the sixth and final period. He lit the Muhls up for a game-high 35 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, when he went 8-for-8 from the foul line.

The Spartans (19-7) stayed in it by converting 17-of-19 free throws.

Thomas scored six first-quarter points as Milton Hershey moved out to an 18-11 lead. Mosquera hit a pair of 3’s in the third quarter to help the Muhls take a 46-44 lead into the fourth quarter.

Luis Valentin scored 16 points for Muhlenberg, 11 after the third quarter. Xzavion Robertson had 13 points and Collado 11 for the Muhls.

Larry Onabanwo scored 17 and Adam Rosa 16 for Milton Hershey, which will go into the PIAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed out of District 3.

The Muhls will open played in the state tournament Friday, March 10, against the District 1 runner-up, either unbeaten and top-seeded Radnor or Unionville. Those teams play Saturday at 2 at Temple University.

Seventh-seeded Hershey finished third in the district, beating fourth-seeded Mechanicsburg 51-46 Wednesday.

Second-seeded Lampeter-Strasburg finished seventh, beating fifth-seeded Warwick 70-55 Wednesday. The top eight finishers advance to the state tournament.