RELEASE DATE: 2/23/08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Mountie men win another thriller to keep playoff hopes alive in 60-57 win at West Chester

Box Score

WEST CHESTER – John Hampton hit a jumper with 38 seconds left to give Mansfield the lead and freshman Yuseff Carr nailed two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to seal the victory to lead Mansfield to a thrilling 60-57 win at West Chester Saturday afternoon to keep the Mountaineers playoff hopes alive.

“Defensively we did a solid job,” said head coach Rich Miller. “Turnovers hurt us but we got a nice effort from Chris Pender and Seth Cornell off the bench. We did what we had to do and that was win. Now the season comes down to Wednesday’s game at East Stroudsburg.”

It was a must-win game for Mansfield but nothing was easy in a game that featured 19 lead changes and seven ties. Neither team held more than a six point lead through the contest.

Mansfield took the biggest lead of the game at 18-12 when Kevin Hill hit a 3-pointer midway through the first half. A 3-pointer by West Chester’s Kehinde Roberts three seconds before halftime tied the game at 28-28 at intermission.

Mansfield got half of its first half points from inside players Brandon Lawley and  Carr who combined for 14 points and 12 rebounds over the first 20 minutes of the game.

The second half was even tighter with 12 lead chances and four ties.

West Chester tied the game at 54-54 on a layup by Sam Scott with 4:50 to play but it was the last field goal the Mountaineer defense allowed for the remainder of the game.

Carr gave Mansfield a 56-55 lead with a layup with 3:25 to go but West Chester retook the lead on a pair of free throws by Scott with just under two minutes to play.

Hampton’s jumper put Mansfield back up 58-57 and Carr was fouled after rebounding a missed West Chester free throw making both of his shots.

West Chester managed to get a shot off at the buzzer but the shot went off the front of the rim.

Lawley recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game0high 13 rebounds. Carr added 14 points and eight rebounds with Chris Pender scored 11 points, including eight in the second half, off the bench.

Kehinde Roberts and Aaron Smith each scored 14 points to lead West Chester.

It marked the third time in last four games a game has been decided by three points for the Mountaineers who must now beat East Stroudsburg at East Stroudsburg on Wednesday night to keep their PSAC playoff hopes alive. Seven of Mansfield’s PSAC East games have been decided by overtime or by eight or less points.

Cheyney, Kutztown and Millersville have all earn a PSAC East playoff spot with two games remaining in the regular season. Mansfield  (4-6) currently trails East Stroudsburg (5-5) by a game for the fourth and final playoff spot. Mansfield beat East Stroudsburg at Mansfield earlier in the season but East Stroudsburg has wins over both Cheyney and Millersville.

Mansfield would have to beat East Stroudsburg on Wednesday and then beat Bloomsburg in the regular season final home on Saturday and have East Stroudsburg lose at Kutztown for the Mountaineers to earn the final playoff berth.

Newspaper Box Score

MANSFIELD vs WEST CHESTER

02/23/08 3:00 PM at WEST CHESTER, Pa. (HOLLINGER FIELD HOUSE

At WEST CHESTER, Pa. (HOLLINGER FIELD HOUSE

MANSFIELD 60, WEST CHESTER 57

MANSFIELD (16-9, 4-6 PSAC E)

CARR, Yuseff 6-9 2-2 14; LAWLEY, Brandon 7-12 0-1 14; PENDER, Chris 4-6 0-0

11; HILL, Kevin 3-6 0-0 8; HAMPTON, John 2-6 1-3 5; HENDERSON, Armen 1-2 0-0

3; LUARASI, Dhimitri 1-1 1-1 3; GREENE, Chris 0-3 2-2 2; SMITH, Brandon 0-1

0-0 0; CALLAHAN, Ryan 0-2 0-0 0; OWENS, Lavail 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-50 6-9

60.

WEST CHESTER (11-14, 2-8 PSACE)

SMITH, Aaron 5-8 0-1 14; ROBERTS, Kehinde 3-16 6-11 14; SCOTT, Sam 4-8 3-8

11; HOUSE, Nate 2-4 1-2 7; CALDWELL, Gerald 3-5 0-0 6; HARRISON, Zack 1-2

0-0 3; GALLAGHER, Kevin 1-3 0-0 2; WHITE, Roger 0-5 0-0 0; ST. GEORGE,

Kenneth 0-3 0-0 0; McGHEE, Isaiah 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-55 10-22 57.

MANSFIELD.....................   28   32  -   60

WEST CHESTER..................   28   29  -   57

3-point goals-MANSFIELD 6-13 (PENDER, Chris 3-5; HILL, Kevin 2-4; HENDERSON,

Armen 1-2; OWENS, Lavail 0-1; HAMPTON, John 0-1), WEST CHESTER 9-22 (SMITH,

Aaron 4-5; HOUSE, Nate 2-3; ROBERTS, Kehinde 2-7; HARRISON, Zack 1-2; WHITE,

Roger 0-4; CALDWELL, Gerald 0-1). Fouled out--MANSFIELD-None, WEST

CHESTER-None. Rebounds-MANSFIELD 40 (LAWLEY, Brandon 13), WEST CHESTER 30

(SCOTT, Sam 8). Assists-MANSFIELD 15 (GREENE, Chris 3; CORNELL, Seth 3),

WEST CHESTER 13 (ROBERTS, Kehinde 8). Total fouls-MANSFIELD 20, WEST CHESTER

13. A-470