RELEASE DATE: 1/14/09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Big second half propels Mansfield to 76-63 win over Shippensburg in PSAC East opener

Box Score

MANSFIELD – Yuseff Carr and Chris Pender each scored 20 points to lead Mansfield to a 76-63 win over Shippensburg in the opening game of the men’s PSAC East season for both teams.

“We kept on trying different things till we finally found something that worked for us offensively,“ said head coach Rich Miller. “We just didn’t play with a lot of energy in the first half and finally went to something we haven’t used in two months when we spread the floor.”

Mansfield shot a dismal 24% from the floor in the first and had to rally from an eight-point deficit to trail 31-28 at halftime.

But the Mountaineers found their focus and a different offense in the second half slowly putting together a 23-10 run to take a 51-41 lead on a pair of free throws by Donny Lyons nine minutes into the second half.

Shippensburg cut the lead to 55-50 with 6:32 to play but Mansfield answered with a 10-0 run keyed by six points from Carr to put the game out of reach.

Carr, who scored 14 of his points in the second half, also grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds while freshman Tony Fannick added 14 points. Senior Chris Greene ran the offense from the point position in the second half and scored nine points while turning the ball over just one time.

Justin Minter led Shippensburg (8-6, 0-1) with 15 points with Ryan Kraft and Daziah Miller adding 12 points each.

Mansfield improved to 8-5 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC East. The Mountaineers travel to Cheyney this Saturday.