RELEASE DATE: 2/26/05

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MOUNTIES CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON WITH 102-91 WIN OVER CHEYNEY – DeSHIELDS LEADS FIVE PLAYERS IN DOUBLE FIGURES WITH GAME HIGH 27 – MOUNTIES HOST KUTZTOWN IN PSAC OPENING ROUND PLAYOFF GAME ON TUESDAY NIGHT

MANSFIELD – Brandon DeShields led five Mountaineers in double figures with a game high 27 points to lead Mansfield to a 102-91 win over Cheyney in the regular season finale at Decker Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

Mansfield, which had already clinched the PSAC East title on Wednesday, will host Kutztown after the Golden Bears earned the fourth and final PSAC East berth with a 78-77 overtime win over East Stroudsburg.

“We approached this game just like any other game this season,” said head coach Vince Alexander. “There was no let down because we had already clinched. Our guys came out and played hard and everybody had a chance to contribute.”

The Mountaineers came out on fire from long distance with seven of their first 10 baskets coming on 3-pointers as they built 35-19 lead after the first 10 minutes of the game.

But Cheyney would come back in the second 10 minutes of the first half outscoring the Mountaineers 30-13 over that span to take a 49-48 lead into intermission.

“We just played a little complacent after we got the big early lead,” said Alexander. “and got a little out of our game. But we challenged our players at halftime and they all responded.”

Mansfield’s Andrae Martin scored the first basketball of the second half to regain the lead and would not trail again.

The Mountaineers would increase their lead to 70-58 on a three pointer by DeShields at the 14:28 mark and hold off one final Cheyney charge before building a maintaining a double-digit advantage of the rest of the game.

It marked the fifth time the Mountaineers have surpassed the 100 point mark in a game this season as they connected on 12-of-23 3-pointers and season best 33-of-39 free throws.

DeShields connected on 7-of-12 from the floor including 5-of-9 3-point attempts and was a perfect 8-8 from the line while adding five assists. Jason Benson capped off a Senior Day performance with 20 points including 10-of-11 free throws and a season best six assists. Andrae Martin had a sensational performance off the bench scoring a season high 18 points while senior Brian Bryant added 14 points and fellow senior Jeremy Frey 13.

Sean King and Assad Brown each scored 19 points to lead Cheyney.

Mansfield, which has won 10 of its last 11 games, ends the regular season 17-10 overall and a PSAC East best 10-2 mark.

Newspaper Box Score

Cheyney University vs Mansfield University

2/26/05 3:00 pm at Decker Gymnasium

At Decker Gymnasium

MANSFIELD UNIVERSITY 102, CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY 91

CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY (4-20 (3-9))

KING, Sean 8-15 3-5 19; BROWN, Asaad 7-10 2-4 19; BRAVO, OJEN 5-8 5-8 17;

LOGAN, Andre 5-9 1-2 12; RAINEY, Iren 2-9 1-2 7; EDMONDS, Husieen 2-4 1-2 5;

PITTMAN, Jeremy 2-2 0-0 5; GREGORY, Dexter 1-1 2-2 4; HALL, Julian 1-1 0-0

2; WILLIAMS, Rainie 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 33-61 16-27 91.

MANSFIELD UNIVERSITY (17-10 (10-2))

DESHIELDS, Brandon 7-12 8-8 27; BENSON, Jason 4-8 10-11 20; MARTIN, Andrae

5-6 8-10 18; BRYANT, Brian 4-8 3-6 14; FREY, Jeremy 4-5 2-2 13; COLLAZO,

Carlos 2-5 2-2 6; HOOPES, David 1-2 0-0 2; ANDERSON, Ian 1-4 0-0 2; KRESS,

Justin 0-1 0-0 0; HAMPTON, Johnny 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-53 33-39 102.

Cheyney University............   49   42  -   91

Mansfield University..........   48   54  -  102

3-point goals-Cheyney University 9-22 (BROWN, Asaad 3-5; BRAVO, OJEN 2-3;

RAINEY, Iren 2-7; PITTMAN, Jeremy 1-1; LOGAN, Andre 1-4; WILLIAMS, Rainie

0-1; KING, Sean 0-1), Mansfield University 13-23 (DESHIELDS, Brandon 5-9;

BRYANT, Brian 3-4; FREY, Jeremy 3-3; BENSON, Jason 2-5; ANDERSON, Ian 0-1;

HOOPES, David 0-1). Fouled out--Cheyney University-BROWN, Asaad; GREGORY,

Dexter, Mansfield University-None. Rebounds-Cheyney University 31 (LOGAN,

Andre 8), Mansfield University 28 (BENSON, Jason 5; DESHIELDS, Brandon 5).

Assists-Cheyney University 9 (BRAVO, OJEN 2; BROWN, Asaad 2), Mansfield

University 19 (BENSON, Jason 6). Total fouls-Cheyney University 30,

Mansfield University 25. A-714