FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Torrid Mansfield Comeback Falls Short

MANSFIELD – Mansfield staged a torrid comeback from an 18-point first half deficit but failed to convert from the free throw line in dropping a 71-62 decision at Kutztown in the opening game of PSAC East for both teams Wednesday night.

Mansfield, which trailed 37-19 with five minutes to play in the first half, closed the gap to four on a number of occasions but couldn't hit big free throws in the second half in losing their first game of the season.

Mansfield held a 7-5 lead two minutes into the game on Andreas Katopodis's first 3-pointer of the contest. But the Mountaineers went stone-cold shortly after that and were held scoreless for a five minute span midway through the first half.

Kutztown went on a 7-0 run over that same span, increasing its lead to 25-14 with just over ten minutes to go in the first half.

The Golden Bears used light's out shooting over the first 10 minutes connecting on 12-of-17 (70.6%) from the floor and closed the first half by connecting on 7-of-9 attempts from the free throw line.

Kutztown extended the lead to 37-19 with just over five minutes remaining before halftime before the Mountaineers went on a 9-2 run to close the gap to 39-28 at intermission.
Mansfield was called for 11 fouls over the first 20 minutes of play to Kutztown's three fouls.

Joe Bell was held scoreless over the first 10 minutes of the game going 1-7 from the floor and hitting a 3-pointer. Katopodis kept Mansfield in the game scoring 11 points and connecting of 3-of-5 from beyond the 3-point line.

Tynell Fortune, who was California (PA) leading scorer last season before transferring to Kutztown for his senior year, scored 11 first half points for the Golden Bears.

Bell scored the first bucket of the second half to pull under double-figures at 39-30 but Kutztown responded with an 8-0 run a little more than two minutes into the second half to put the lead up to 47-30.

The never-give-up Mountaineers responded with a 9-0 run of their own starting with a  layup by Charles Pemberton and 3-pointers by Bell and Kamil Parzych to pull to 47-39 after five minutes of second half play.

Parzych nailed another 3-pointer a minute later to close to seven points at 51-44 and a jumper by Thomas Moore with 13 minutes remaining put the score at 52-46. Ralik Wise followed with a layup to continue the Mansfield rally and close the gap to 52-48 at the 12 minute media timeout.

After the timeout, Mansfield failed to hit the first free throw four straight trips to the line and Kutztown responded with a 3-pointer by Martin Dietrich to go up by seven before a dunk by Pemberton put it back to a five-point game at 55-50 midway through the half.

With just under nine minutes to go, Pemberton was fouled by Fortune and then was called for a technical foul himself. Fortune make both his shots while Pemberton missed both of his giving Kutztown a 60-50 lead.

A Bell jumper followed by another jumper by Katopodis made it a six point lead at 60-54 before a 3-pointer by Dietrich upped the lead to 63-54 with just over six minutes to go.

Mansfield pulled to 63-56 on a pair of free throws by Moore and the score remained frozen there up to the final media time out at the 3:56 mark.

Kutztown extended the lead to 65-57 on a jumper by Beidelman with just under three minutes to play before Pemberton hit a free throw followed by a layup from Parzych to pull Mansfield to 65-60 with just under two minutes to go.

Mansfield missed two shots before Beidelman hit a pair of free throws to make it a three possession lead at 67-60 with 33 second remaining.

The game came down to the foul line where Kutztown hit 15-of-20 attempts to Mansfield's 7-of-22. Both team had 24 field goals in the game with Mansfield holding a 36-28 rebounding advantage.

Katopodis, Pemberton and Bell all scored 13 points to lead Mansfield while Ralik Wise pulled down 11 rebounds and added seven points.

Fortune topped the Golden Bears in double-figures with 24 points.