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MANSFIELD – Joe Bell scored 20 points, including a dunk in the final 25 seconds to give Mansfield a three point advantage, to rally the Mountaineers to a 77-73 win over Shippensburg in a key PSAC East matchup Saturday afternoon in Decker Gymnasium.

“Joe Bell didn't play like a freshman today,” said head coach Rich Miller. “He's scored more points and pulled down more rebounds in games earlier in the season, but today he played with authority and wanted to be the go-to guy.”

Mansfield trailed 39-37 at halftime and tied the game in the opening seconds of the second half on a Chuck Harper jumper.  Shippensburg responded with a 14-5 run over the next five minutes taking its biggest lead of the game at 53-44 on a free throw by Jordan Stasyszyn .

The Mountaineers staged their own rally right after those free throws, starting with a layup by Bell and tied the game at 58-58 on a 3-pointer by Josh Dupuy with just over 10 minutes remaining.  Mansfield took a 63-60 lead three minutes later when Dupuy connected on a layup and hit the ensuing free throw.

The Mountaineers extended that lead to 67-60 on a pair of free throws by Bell with just over five minutes to play before Shippensburg switched into a zone and slowly started chipping away taking a 70-62 lead on a pair of free throws by Dane Lauber with just 1:35 remaining in the game.

“Down the stretch when they went to a zone we made a move get some shooters out there and press some buttons,” said head coach Rich Miller. “It didn't look like it was working at first, but then Cory (Henneghan) hit that 3-pointer and it turned everything around.”

With 70 seconds remaining, Henneghan took a pass from Bell in the right corner and swished through a 3-pointer that gave Mansfield a 72-70 lead.

Shippensburg hit one-of-two free throws with 37 seconds to go to cut it to 72-71 before Bell delivered a dunk 12 seconds later to put Mansfield up 74-71.
Chuck Harper nailed two free throws with seven seconds remaining and Dupuy added another free throw with four seconds to go to put Mansfield up 77-71.

Bell recorded his fifth straight games in double-figures with his 20 point effort connecting on 9-12 from the floor and also adding five rebounds. Chuck Harper had 13 points while Henneghan and Kevonte McClain each added 11 points with McClain also pulling down a team-best eight rebounds.

Dylan Edger led Shippensburg (6-10, 3-7 PSAC) with 21 points and 12 rebounds with Reggie Charles scoring 13 points and Dane Lauber 12.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Mansfield which improves to 6-8 overall and 3-7 in PSAC play moving the Mountaineers into a three-way tie for fourth place in the PSAC East.

Mansfield will travel to PSAC East leading Bloomsburg on Wednesday night.