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MANSFIELD – Chuck Harper hit a 3-point just inside the mid-court line as time expired to lift Mansfield to a stunning 72-70 win of Mercyhurst Friday night.

“We just battled and didn't give up,” said head coach Rich Miller. “When things didn't go right we fought back and when they still didn't go right we fought harder.”

Mansfield trailed 70-67 with 31 second remaining and pulled to 70-69 when Joe Bell hit two free throws with four second left.

Mansfield fouled on the inbound play and Mercyhurst's Luis Leao missed both free throws with Harper grabbing a rebound and quickly getting just inside the mid-court before launching the game-winner hitting nothing but net.

“We had something planned if Joe made or miss his free throws,” said Miller of the game's final seconds. “Four seconds left isn't a lot of time especially with just four seconds left. In situations like that your best chance is a half-court shot and that's what we got and it went in.”

Mansfield, which held a 38-33 halftime lead, went cold midway through the second half and trailed 60-51 with a little more than seven minutes to play.

But the Mountaineers rallied with a 12-0 run to take a 63-60 lead on a jumper by Harper with 4:47 to play. Mercyhurst came back to take a 70-67 lead on Matt Lee's jumper with 31 second to go and that lead looked safe when Josh Dupuy missed a pair of free throws with six seconds left.

Bell got the rebound of Dupuy's second intentional miss and was fouled making both shots with Mansfield fouling Leao on the inbounds play.

Joe Bell scored a season-high 18 points for Mansfield while Harper, who missed both games last weekend with an injury, scored 17 points off the bench. Charles Becoats added 11 points and Kyle Bradley 10.

Leao and Andrew Rickard each scored 13 points for Mercyhurst (5-2, 4-1 PSAC) which suffered its first conference loss of the season.

Mansfield improves to 3-3 and 2-3 in the PSAC. The Mountaineers host Slippery Rock Saturday at 4 p.m.