RELEASE DATE: 2/05/05

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MOUNTIES TAKE SOLE POSSESSION OF PSAC EAST WITH 97-82 WIN AT CHEYNEY – COLLAZO LEADS FOUR PLAYERS IN DOUBLE FIGURES WITH 21 POINTS

CHEYNEY – Carlos Collazo topped four Mountaineers in double figures with 21 points to lead Mansfield University to a key 97-82 win over Cheyney in a PSAC East contest at Cope Hall Saturday afternoon.

The win, combined with a 51-50 victory by Kutztown over East Stroudsburg, gave Mansfield sole possession of first place in the PSAC East at the end of the first half of division play.

“I’m just really proud of the way our guys played despite being a little short handed,” said head coach Vince Alexander. “These guys believe in themselves and that showed in the way they played this afternoon.”

Mansfield led for all but three minutes of the game taking a 11-8 lead on a 3-pointer by Jason Benson just over three minutes into the contest and leading by as much as 25-13 on a 3-pointer by Brandon DeShields with eleven minutes to play in the first have before Cheyney cut the margin to 42-36 at intermission.

Seven of the Mountaineers 15 first half field goals came on 3-pointers including four by Jason Benson who had 14 of his 18 points in the first half. 

Mansfield held a 55-49 lead with 13:27 to play before going on an 11-2 rally over a two and one half minute span taking a 66-51 lead on a Terrance Williams layup at the 10:51 mark.

Cheyney would never pull closer than 11 points as the Mountaineers extended their lead to as much as 94-73 with two minutes to play.

Mansfield shot 63% (17-27) in the second half and connected on 12-of-24 3-pointers for the game.

Collazo, playing a season high 31 minutes because of a NCAA one game suspension of fellow post players Justin Kress and Andrea Martin, managed to stay out of foul trouble for much of the game while pulling down seven rebounds and blocking three shots.

“Carlos did an outstanding job of staying out of foul trouble and giving us an inside game,” said Alexander. “If he got in foul trouble we would have been in trouble inside and who knows how the game may have turned out then.”

The Mountaineers also got an excellent overall game from Brandon DeShields who scored 17 points with seven rebounds and seven assists in 39 minutes of play. DeShields had originally been suspended from the game until a review of ESU game showed he was a peacemaker instead of an altercation participant. David Hoopes scored 18 points including four 3-pointers.

Assad Brown led Cheyney with a game high 25 points including an 11-12 performance from the free throw line.

Mansfield vs Cheyney

2/5/05 3:00 pm at Cope Hall, Cheyney, PA

At Cope Hall, Cheyney, PA

MANSFIELD 97, CHEYNEY 82

MANSFIELD (12-9:5-1 PSAC E)

COLLAZO, Carlos 6-13 7-13 21; BENSON, Jason 7-14 0-0 18; HOOPES, David 7-13

0-0 18; DESHIELDS, Brandon 4-6 8-11 17; WILLIAMS, Terrance 4-6 4-4 13;

HAMPTON, Johnny 3-5 2-2 8; ANDERSON, Ian 1-3 0-2 2; HILL, Kevin 0-1 0-0 0;

FREY, Jeremy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-62 21-32 97.

CHEYNEY (1-17:0-6 PSAC E)

BROWN, Asaad 6-16 11-12 25; LOGAN, Andre 7-12 0-0 17; KING, Sean 6-11 4-7

16; BRYANT, Maurice 3-8 2-2 8; GREGORY, Dexter 3-5 0-0 6; EDMONDS, Husieen

3-7 0-1 6; PITTMAN, Jeremy 1-2 0-0 2; WILLIAMS, Rainie 0-1 0-0 0; RAINEY,

Iren 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-64 19-24 82.

Mansfield.....................   42   55  -   97

Cheyney.......................   36   46  -   82

3-point goals-Mansfield 12-24 (HOOPES, David 4-7; BENSON, Jason 4-7;

COLLAZO, Carlos 2-2; DESHIELDS, Brandon 1-3; WILLIAMS, Terrance 1-3; HILL,

Kevin 0-1; HAMPTON, Johnny 0-1), Cheyney 5-19 (LOGAN, Andre 3-5; BROWN,

Asaad 2-7; BRYANT, Maurice 0-4; PITTMAN, Jeremy 0-1; RAINEY, Iren 0-1; KING,

Sean 0-1). Fouled out--Mansfield-None, Cheyney-None. Rebounds-Mansfield 36

(COLLAZO, Carlos 7; DESHIELDS, Brandon 7), Cheyney 38 (KING, Sean 8).

Assists-Mansfield 19 (DESHIELDS, Brandon 7), Cheyney 10 (BRYANT, Maurice 3).

Total fouls-Mansfield 23, Cheyney 24. A-354