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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Bell scores 23 to lead Mansfield past Lock Haven

MANSFIELD – Joe Bell scored a team-high 23 points including a critical layup with 29 seconds remaining to lift Mansfield to an 82-78 win over Lock Haven in a key PSAC crossover contest Saturday night at Decker Gymnasium.

“That was a good win for us against a very much improved Lock Haven program,” said head coach Rich Miller. “We knew it would be a tough game coming into the night. At the end Joe wanted the ball and Chuck hit those critical free throws that made it work for us.”

Mansfield held a 75-68 lead when Bell hit a layup with 3:48 left before Lock Haven used a 6-0 run to pull to 75-74 two minutes later. A pair of free throws by Chuck Harper put the Mountaineers ahead 77-74 with just over a minute to play before a layup by Lock Haven's Kasheef Festus closed the gap to 77-76.

Bell then bullied his way underneath and hit a twisting layup with 29 second to go putting the Mountaineers up 79-76. A missed Lock Haven layup followed by a turnover with nine seconds left led to a pair of free throws by Harper giving Mansfield an 81-76 advantage with seven seconds remaining.

Lock Haven (5-7, 3-6) got a layup from Elijah Cooper two seconds remaining but Harper hit a free throw with 1.4 to go to put the game out of reach.

Bell, who scored 34 points with 22 rebounds in yesterday's win over Clarion, hit 10-of-17 from the floor and 3-4 from the free throw line while pulling down six rebounds in 37 minutes of play. Harper, who was clutch late in the game, had an outstanding game scoring 18 points with seven rebounds and a career-best 8 assists. Onyema Utti scored 12 points with Kevonte McClain adding 11 points.

“We had some guys that stepped up in critical situation during the game and those contributions don't always show in the stats,” said Miller. “But Tremaine Bowman did a heck of a job on defense and Kevonte McClain played one of his best games of the season inside.”

PSAC scoring leader Wali Hepburn paced Lock Haven with a game-high 24 points with Kasheef Festus adding 17 points and nine rebounds.

Mansfield improves to 5-8 and 3-6 in PSAC play and hosts East Stroudsburg on Wednesday night.