RELEASE DATE: 12/4/05

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Mounties Rally in Last Minute in 74-71 Win At Slippery Rock – Terrance Williams Scores Career Best 17 Points

SLIPPERY ROCK – David Hoopes hit a 3-pointer with under a minute to play to give Mansfield the lead and Brandon DeShields made two free throws with four seconds remaining to seal the win in a thrilling 74-71 victory over Slippery Rock in a PSAC crossover game at Morrow Field House Sunday afternoon.

It was the second game decided in the last seconds in the last two days for the Mountaineers who dropped a 77-76 heartbreaker at Edinboro Saturday.

“It may sound a little weird,” said head coach Rich Miller. “But I don’t know if we would have won this game if we didn’t lose yesterday. We learned a lot in that loss at Edinboro about playing in the last couple of minutes of a tight game and about moving the ball. Those lessons paid off for us today.”

The Mountaineers trailed by as much as 17-10 in the first six minutes of the game but got balanced scoring from Williams, Hoopes and Carlos Collazo who all had 10 first half points, taking a 45-40 lead into intermission.

Mansfield managed to maintain a lead until Slippery Rock rallied to go up 62-58 on a 3-pointer by Matt Hale with just under seven minutes to play.

Trailing 70-66 with 1:40 to go, Collazo hit one of two free throws and Williams scored on a layup to bring Mansfield to 70-69 with under a minute to play. Hoopes then buried a 3-pointer from outside the top of the key off a planned set with :48 to give the Mountaineers a 72-70 led.

Mansfield missed two free throws before Slippery Rock’s Jamar Scales hit the first half of a one-and-one to pull to within one point with seven seconds remaining. The shot missed as did a put back on the rebound and the Mountaineers Chris Pender pulled down the rebound before DeShields was fouled.

DeShields made both of his free throw shots and Slippery Rock missed a shot at the buzzer to seal the win.

Williams led all scorers with a career-high 17 points, in addition to pulling down six rebounds. Also hitting double figures for the Mountaineers were Hoopes (16), Collazo (16), and DeShields (12).

Mansfield also benefited from a 44-30 advantage in rebounds. Six of Mansfield’s 20 offensive rebounds came in the second half. Despite only scoring two points, Pender pulled down 12 rebounds in 17 minutes of playing time for the Mountaineers.

Newspaper Box Score

Mansfield vs Slippery Rock

12/04/05 3 p.m. at Morrow Field House, Slippery Rock, Pa.

MANSFIELD- 74, SLIPPERY ROCK 71

MANSFIELD- (3-1)

WILLIAMS, Terrance 6-12 2-4 17; COLLAZO, Carlos 4-5 8-12 16; HOOPES, David 5-11 1-2 16; DESHIELDS, Brandon 2-5 8-11 12; HAMPTON, John 2-6 0-0 5; PENDER, Chris 1-4 0-0 2; HILL, Kevin 1-3 0-0 2; KRESS, Justin 0-1 2-2 2; GREENE, Chris 1-2 0-2 2; MARTIN, Andrae 0-3 0-1 0. Totals 22-52 21-34 74.

SLIPPERY ROCK (1-4)

HALE, Matt 5-13 3-6 16; SCALES, Jamar 7-9 2-4 16; ROBINSON, Erroll 4-12 2-2 11; SCHAEFER, Matt 4-4 0-0 10; JANCIC, Dejan 3-7 0-1 6; NESSER, Corey 2-2 0-0 5; THOMPSON, Brandon 2-4 0-0 4; CRAIG, Pete 1-3 0-0 2; DYKGRAAF, Tim 0-1 1-2 1; VINES, Joseph 0-3 0-2 0; NOVICK, Eric 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-59 8-17 71.

Mansfield…....................   47   27  -   74

Slippery Rock.................   40   31  -   71

3-point goals-Mansfield 9-23 (HOOPES, David 5-10; WILLIAMS, Terrance 3-5; HAMPTON, John 1-2; PENDER, Chris 0-1; HILL, Kevin 0-2; MARTIN, Andrae 0-1; DESHIELDS, Brandon 0-2), Slippery Rock 7-13 (HALE, Matt 3-7; SCHAEFER, Matt 2-2; NESSER, Corey 1-1; ROBINSON, Erroll 1-2; NOVICK, Eric 0-1). Fouled out--Mansfield-M-None, Slippery Rock-SCHAEFER, Matt. Rebounds-Mansfield-M 44 (PENDER, Chris 12), Slippery Rock 30 (HALE, Matt 6). Assists-Mansfield 9 (GREENE, Chris 4), Slippery Rock 13 (HALE, Matt 4). Total fouls-Mansfield 20, Slippery Rock 25.

###