Box Score
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Bell and Pemberton Combined for 62 Points to Rally Mansfield from 18 Point Deficit

KUTZTOWN – Joe Bell hit a layup with 53 seconds to play to give Mansfield the lead and then blocked a Kutztown 3-ponter with one second remaining as the Mountaineers rallied from an 18 point first half deficit for a critical 82-80 win Thursday night at Keystone Hall.

The win was one of the biggest comebacks in recent school history and resurrected Mansfield PSAC playoff hopes.

Mansfield got off to terrible start, trailing 37-19 with just under four minutes remaining in the first half.

Trailing 44-30 at halftime, the Mountaineers used a 17-3 run early in the second half to close to 51-49

Mansfield, behind the inside scoring of Bell and Pemberton, stormed back to start the second half using an early 17-3 run to close to 51-49 on a steal and layup by Bell four minutes into the second half.

Kutztown countered, taking a 71-59 advantage on a layup by Rell Sherman with just over seven minutes to play.

A minute later, Charles Pemberton's layup and ensuing block started a 9-0 run with the Mountaineers pulling to 73-72. Pemberton accounted for eight of those nine points.

Kutztown held on, extending its lead to 77-74 on a pair of free throws with 3:22 to go before Bell hit a layup and followed it with a dunk to give Mansfield its first lead of the game at 78-77 with 150 seconds to play.

Kutztown retook the lead at 80-78 on a 3-pointer by Austin Beidelman with two minutes left in what would prove to be the Golden Bears last points of the game.

Bell closed the gap to 80-79 with a free throw and then hit a layup with 53 seconds remaining to give Mansfield a 81-80 lead.
A Pemberton free throw with 20 second to play put Mansfield up 82-80..

Kutztown missed a layup but was awarded the ball when the rebound went out of bounds. Following a Golden Bear time out with three seconds remaining Bell blocked Beidelman's 3-pointer in front of the Kutztown bench as the ball went out of bounds as time expired.

Behind Bell and Pemberton, Mansfield got 62 of its points in the paint.

Bell, who shot 10-12 in the second half in scoring 24 of his game-high 33 points after intermission, now has 1360 points to move past Tony Budzik (1989-92, 1358) into 9th place on the school's all-time scoring list.

Pemberton scored a career-high 29 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to record his eighth double-double of the season. The junior, who is the most accurate shooter in the PSAC, missed his first four shots of the game before connecting on 13 of his next 16 attempts.

Tracy Peal topped five Kutztown players in double-figures with 16 points.

With the win, Mansfield moves to 1 1/2 games of Kutztown for the sixth and final playoff berth from the PSAC East.

Mansfield host Cheyney this Saturday.