Tamanosky Scores Career-High 29 Points to Lead Mansfield Past UPJ 78-69

JOHNSTOWN – Matt Tamanosky scored a career-high 29 points and Malik Carter added a double-double to lead Mansfield to a 78-69 win over Pitt-Johnstown in a key PSAC crossover contest Sunday afternoon in Johnstown.

Tamanosky went 6-for-6 from the floor in the first half, scoring 15 of his game-high 29 points before halftime.

What a difference a day made for the Mountaineers who shot a season-low 33.3% from the floor in a disappointing loss at Clarion on Saturday. Mansfield had its season-best shooting performance 24 hours later at Pitt-Johnstown connecting on 55% of its shots including a remarkable 62% in the first half.

Tamanosky scored the game's first two points, but Mansfield trailed for most of the first 10 minutes of the game until Jahyde Gardner nailed a 3-pointer giving the Mountaineers an 18-16 advantage midway through the first half.

A trey by Gerasimos Koutoufas with just over six minutes remaining in the first half would give Mansfield the lead for good with the Mountaineers extending their advantage to 35-25 on another Koutoufas 3-pointer with just under two minutes before halftime.

 Leading by seven points at halftime (37-30), Mansfield would extend the margin to 48-35 when Tamanosky scored on a layup set up by a blocked shot by Jahyde Gardiner four minutes into the second half.
Mansfield would maintain a double-digit advantage for most of the second half before Pitt-Johnstown used a 12-2 run to pull to 64-62 on a 3-pointer by Jake Laravie with just over four minutes remaining in the game.

Mansfield countered with a run of its own, outscoring UPJ 10-2 over the next three minutes to return to a double-digit lead with just under a minute to play to play on a pair of Carter free throws. Jahmir Green, who made his first start of the season, scored six of his career-high 13 points over that span.

Carter had an outstanding game recording her first double-double of the season with 12 points along with a game-high 11 rebounds and seven assists. Koutouofas and Gardiner were both credited with four blocks. Tamanosky fell just short of a double-double with nine rebounds.

Dale Clancy scored 18 points to lead four Mountain Cats in double-figures with Isaac Vescovi and A.J. Leahey scoring 13 points each.

Mansfield improves to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the PSAC with the win while Pitt-Jhnstown falls to 5-4 and 1-2 in conference play.

Mansfield travels to once-beaten IUP next Saturday.