Bringing Down the House –  Charles Pemberton Carries Mounties to Huge Win over East Stroudsburg on Senior Day

MANSFIELD – You couldn't have scripted a better ending for Senior Day.

Senior Charles Pemberton scored a game-high 23 points, including six in the final three minutes to rally Mansfield to a remarkable 74-70 win over East Stroudsburg Saturday afternoon on First Citizens Community Bank Court at Decker Gymnasium.

The Mountaineers outscored East Stroudsburg 13-3 over the final three minutes of the game in one of their best defensive efforts of the season.

"That was a special win," said head coach Rich Miller. "In a game that we had to win we found a way and often that way was Charles Pemberton."

The win was critical to Mansfield's playoff hopes, putting the Mountaineers one game ahead of Shippensburg into the sixth and final playoff spot from the PSAC East with one game remaining in the regular season.

The game was close for much of the afternoon but when East Stroudsburg took a 67-61 lead with 3:20 remaining on jumper by Whis Grant, things looked bleak for the Mountaineers.

But Pemberton, who was recognized along with fellow seniors Joe Bell, Kenny Johnson, and Kamil Parcych in pregame ceremonies, was determined not to let his final game in Decker Gymnasium end in defeat.

Pemberton grabbed an offensive rebound and put back a layup with 2:48 to go to cut the lead to 67-63 starting a 12-0 run for the Mountaineers. Pemberton then hit two more layups, including one off another offensive rebound, to tie the game at 67-67 with just over 90 seconds remaining.

A 3-pointer by Andreas Katopodis, his first and only basket of the day, with just under a minute to play give Mansfield a 70-67 advantage and the Mountaineers went up 71-67 when Thomas Moore hit a free throw after a missed 3-pointer by East Stroudsburg with 15 seconds to go.

Mansfield seemed to have an insurmountable 73-67 lead when Moore hit two free throws with nine seconds in the game but an ESU 3-pointer with four second remaining cutting the lead to 73-70.
Katopodis was fouled two seconds later and hit his second shot after missing the first to ice the game.

The win snapped an eight-game losing-skid to the Warriors and was the first-ever win over East Stroudsburg for the graduating class. It also extended Mansfield current winning streak to a season-long four games.

Mansfield held a commanding 40-26 rebounding advantage while East Stroudsburg hit 12-of-31 3-point attempts including a remarkable 7-13 in the first half.

Mansfield started the game on fire, holding a 9-0 lead on a 3-pointer by Kenny Johnson two minutes into the game and held a 42-37 advantage at halftime.

Pemberton was almost perfect from the floor, hitting 11-of-12 shots and also pulling down four offensive rebounds. Thomas Moore effectively broke East Stroudsburg's press all day and ended the after with his second straight double-double scoring 13 points and dishing out 10 assists. Ralik Wise had a strong game off the bench scoring 12 points and pulling down six rebounds.

Jamal Nwaniemeka led East Stroudsburg with 16 points with Will Brown adding 15 points and Whis Grant 14 points.

The win makes Wednesday regular season ending game at West Chester just as important. Mansfield, which currently holds a one game lead over Shippensburg and is one game behind Lock Haven, needs to win to guarantee a playoff spot. Shippensburg and Mansfield split their two regular season games and both have wins over front-running East Stroudsburg. However Shippensburg also has a win over West Chester holding the tiebreaker if both teams ended the season with identical conference marks. Shippensburg host last-place Cheyney on Wednesday.

Mansfield holds the tie breaker over Lock Haven after beating the Bald Eagles twice in the regular season but Lock Haven would have lose at Bloomsburg on Wednesday and the Mountaineers would have to beat West Chester to move ahead of them in the playoff rankings.