Box Score
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Mounties Second Half Rally Comes Up Short – Mansfield Gives Dogged Effort in Tough Loss on the Road

WEST CHESTER – Joe Bell scored a game-high 21 points but West Chester held off Mansfield in the final two minutes to pull out a 86-77 win in a PSAC East contest at Hollinger Field House Saturday afternoon.

Mansfield jumped out to a 9-2 lead when Bell hit a layup a little over two minutes into the game before West Chester countered with a 21-11 run to take a 23-20 advantage midway through the half.

Mansfield didn't back down, retaking the lead 33-31 when Charles Becoats hit a 3-pointer followed by a layup with just under six minutes remaining before halftime.

The Mountaineers, however, couldn't maintain the momentum with West Chester closing out the half with an 18-7 run to take a 49-40 lead into halftime.

After a first half battle that feature five ties and five lead changes, Mansfield steadily chipped away closing the gap to five points at 61-56 on a 3-pointer by freshman Ryan Krawczeniuk midway through the second half.

A Charles Pemberton layup three minutes later cut the lead to 64-62 before West Chester answered with a 7-2 run to rebuild the lead to 71-64 on a layup by Cory Blake with just over five minutes to play.

Mansfield rallied again cutting the lead to two points at 71-69 on a layup and ensuing free throw by Becoats two minutes later.

West Chester responded, extending the lead to 81-72 with just over a minute to play, before Mansfield staged one last rally scoring four points on a pair of free throws by Krawczeniuk and a layup by Bell over a two second span to pull to 81-77 with 53 seconds to go.

The Golden Rams held on connecting on five of six free throws over the remainder of the game to pull out the win.

Mansfield held a 35-32 rebounding advantage and hit eight 3-pointers while going a 19-24 from the free throw line but turned the ball over 22 times resulting in 29 West Chester points.

Bell connected on 8-13 from the floor and pull down seven rebounds. It was the 11th time this season the junior has scored 20 or more points in a game and gives him 1327 career points. He needs just 32 more points to surpass Tony Budzik (1989-92) for 9th place on the all-time MU scoring list.

Pemberton and Becoats each added 16 points with Pemberton recording a team-high eight rebounds before fouling out with just over six minutes to play. Sophomore Brady Burke scored 10 points and dished out a career-best five assists.

Troy Hockaday come off the bench to top four West Chester players in double-figures with 17 points while also pulling down a game-high nine rebounds.