MANSFIELD – Charles Pemberton was as cool as the other side of the pillow scoring the eventual game-winning bucket in traffic with 19 seconds remaining to lift Mansfield past Edinboro 66-64 Sunday afternoon in PSAC crossover action at Decker Gymnasium.
 
"I thought we did a good job of finding a way to keep our composure throughout the game" explained head coach Rich Miller. "We just wanted to compete hard and stay composed and I thought we did that."
 
Joe Bell scored a team-high 21 points for Mansfield (6-7, 4-5 PSAC) after connecting on 7-of-11 from the floor including two treys and hit 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Bell also recorded six rebounds and six assists in the game.
 
Thomas Moore scored 19 points in just his second game back from injury, hitting six field goals with a pair of 3-pointers. Moore also recorded five takeaways. Pemberton muscled his way to 14 points and nine rebounds with seven boards coming off the offensive glass.
 
Henri Wade-Chapman was a one-man show for Edinboro (6-6, 3-6 PSAC) pouring in 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the floor. Tommy Scales was the only other Fighting Scot to hit double-figure scoring with 11 points.
 
Edinboro opened the game with a 3-pointer and held the lead for the majority of the first half. The Scots jumped out to their biggest lead of the half at seven points twice, at the 12:37 and 9:31 marks. Edinboro led 24-18 with 3:45 remaining in the half, but a jumper by Pemberton and back-to-back lay-ups by Bell knotted the game at 24 all with 1:26 to play.
 
A pair of free throws by Bell with three seconds until halftime gave Mansfield its first lead of the contest at 28-27.
 
The Scots opened the second half with a pair of jumpers to take a three point lead, but back-to-back trifectas from Bell and Matt Knezovic put the Mounties on top by three. After four quick lead changes and two ties, Edinboro found itself leading 41-40 with 12:13 remaining in the game. A seven-point run over the next two-and-a-half minutes gave Edinboro its biggest lead of the game at eight points.
 
Mansfield slowly chipped away at its deficit until it regained the lead on a Bell jumper with 5:42 to play. After a back-and-forth with five lead changes over the next two minutes, a Will Marrow free throw gave Edinboro the advantage at 62-61.
 
A pair of good free throws by Scales gave the Scots a three-point lead with 2:41 to play. Mansfield turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, but a key block by Bell denied another Edinboro scoring opportunity.
 
With 1:35 left in the game, Moore drove the lane and hit a lay-up to bring the Mounties within one point at 64-63. Stifling defense by Kamil Parzych forced a Wade-Capman missed jumper, but the rebound went off an MU defender and stayed with Edinboro. The Scots attempted a 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining but the shot was off target and collected by Bell.
 
On the other side of the floor, Bell found Pemberton inside who layed the ball into the basket through three defenders for what would prove to be the eventual game-winner with 19 seconds to play.
 
Edinboro had a chance to take the lead, before Moore came up with a critical steal and was immediately fouled with seven seconds left.
 
Moore hit the second of two free throw attempts to put Mansfield up by two points. The Scots' Jaymon Mason dribbled the length of the floor and had a nice look to tie the game with a lay-up, but Pemberton got a piece of the ball as the shot rolled off the backboard.
 
Mansfield connected on 43.1% (22-52) of shots from the floor including 42.1% (8-19) from beyond the arc.

With his 21 points today, Bell is just 99 points away from surpassing Tommy Harvey as the all-time leading scorer in Mountaineer basketball history.
 
The Mountaineers travel to Mercyhurst on Wednesday for their final PSAC crossover of the season.