FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Harper's last second lay-up leads Mansfield to thrilling 77-76 victory over Mercyhurst.

BOX SCORE

ERIE, PA – Mansfield's Charles Harper made a game winning lay-up with three seconds left in the game to put away a pesky Mercyhurst team on the road this Saturday, January 8 in a PSAC crossover match-up.

"We played with great desire today," said head coach Rich Miller. "Chuck's (Harper) layup may have won the game but the diffence maker was the effort and effectiveness our guys put into getting offensive rebounds."

Mercyhurst trailed by seven with 2:18 left in the game, but refused to go away easily, outscoring the Mounties 12-6 in the final two minutes of the game. The Lakers' Shelton Jackson gave Mercyhurst a 76-75 lead over Mansfield when he knocked down both free throws with :10 seconds remaining. Mansfield took the ball the full length of the court and sophomore Charles Harper layed in a game-winning bucket via a Josh Dupuy assist with only :03 left on the game clock.

All five Mansfield starters recorded double digits in the scoring column including junior Tony Fannick who led the Mounties in scoring with 18 points while also contributing 10 rebounds. This marked Fannick's first double-double of the season.

"Tony really played a great game today," said Miller. "He was relentless on the offensive boards and Kyle Bradley had his best game of the year also."

Senior Derrison Anthony recorded 15 points on the night and brought down 7 rebounds. This marked the seventh game that Anthony has scored in double digits this season.

Freshman Kyle Bradley chipped in 11 points four Mansfield and led the team in assists with four. Scoring 10 points a piece were Yuseff Carr and Josh Dupuy.

Leading all scorers was Mercyhurst's Heiden Ratner who recorded 27 points including four three pointers.

Mansfield had it's best game of the season from behind the arc, knocking down seven three pointers on the day shooting just under 40%. The Mountaineer's success from the free throw line in the second half gave Mansfield the advantage going 16-18 (89%) from the charity stripe.

Despite shooting 39% from the floor to Mercyhurst's 51%, Mansfield's 41-29 rebounding advantage -- including 22-12 on the offensive glass -- proved enough to offset Mercyhurst's accuracy advantate.

With the victory, Mansfield improves to 8-3 overall while Mercyhurst falls to 8-3.

Mansfield is back in action Sunday, January 9 when they travel to Slippery Rock for the second PSAC crossover game of the weekend.