FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Mountie Men Fall in Exhibition at St. Bonaventure – Open Regular Season Saturday

MANSFIELD – Three exhibition games against three NCAA Division I opponents on the road over a seven day span took a bit of a toll on the Mansfield University men's basketball team in dropping a 86-45 decision at St. Bonaventure Saturday afternoon.

Mansfield, which lost by just six points to Binghamton, a member of the American East, last Saturday followed by a loss at last year NIT semi-finalist Robert Morris on Tuesday, clearly struggled offensively against the A-10 Bonnies.

The Mountaineers shot a disappointing 27.7% from the floor and turned the ball over 28 times in the loss.

Using a starting lineup that included four newcomers, Mansfield scored the game's first points on a layup by Balla Thiam before St. Bonaventure went on a 17-3 run to take a 17-5 lead six minutes into the game.

Mansfield closed the gap to 19-12 two minutes later on a layup by Thomas Moore but the Bonnies used a 16-3 run over the final eight minutes of the first half to build a 47-21 advantage and put the game away.

Joe Bell was Mansfield's main offensive spark scoring a team-best 11 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Ralik Wise continued his impressive preseason play with an eight points and eight rebound performance with newcomer Andreas Katopodis adding seven points.

Dion Wright topped three Bonnies in double-figures with a game-high 20 points and connecting on 10-12 from the floor.

Mansfield opens the regular season this Saturday when the Mountaineers welcome Penn College to Decker Gymnasium.