West Chester Pulls Away From Mountie Men in Second Half

MANSFIELD – Matt Tamanosky, Thomas Moore and Gerasimos Koutoufas combined for 24 of their 40 total points in the first half, but PSAC East leading West Chester pulled away from Mansfield after halftime to record a 90-68 win in a PSAC East contest Saturday afternoon on First Citizens Community Bank Court in Decker Gymnasium.

Mansfield had one of its best first half's of the season, taking a 15-8 lead after five minutes of play on a 3-pointer by Ian Vasquez. The Mountaineers, who have had shooting struggles lately, hit 67% of their shot from the floor at the midway point of the first half taking a 26-18 lead on a 3-pointer by Moore with just under ten minutes remaining in the half.

But West Chester, switching defenses, countered with a 20-2 run vaulting to a 38-28 advantage six minutes later. Mansfield came back, getting a 3-pointer from Da'Quan Jones followed by another 3-pointer by Moore with just over a minute before intermission to close the gap to 42-39.

Mansfield shot 58% from the floor over the first 20 minutes including 55% of its 3-point attempts.

West Chester started to pull away in the second half putting together a 29-14 run over the first ten minutes of the second half to take what would prove to be an unsurmountable 74-54 lead.

Both team hit 27 shots from the floor but West Chester won the game at the free throw line hitting 27-of-36 shots to Mansfield's 6-of-13. The Golden Rams also controlled the boards pulling down 39 rebounds to Mansfield's 26.

Avery Brown topped four West Chester players in double-figures with a game-high 22 points with Matt Wiseley and Malik Jackson each adding 13 points.

Tamanosky led Mansfield with a team-high 15 points with Moore scoring 18 points and Koutoufas adding 12 points.

Mansfield travels to Kutztown on Wednesday.