Mounties Fight Hard but Drop 99-89 Decision at Shippensburg

SHIPPENSBURG – Thomas Moore topped five Mountaineer players in double-figures with 23 points, but Shippensburg would use its size advantage along with outside shooting to pull away in the second half beating Mansfield 99-89 in a PSAC East basketball game Wednesday evening.

Mansfield, which led much of the first half, trailed 41-37 at halftime before Shippensburg extended its lead to double-digits at 59-49 on a 3-pointer by Dustin Sleva five minutes into the second half. Mansfield slowly but steadily chipped away, closing to 60-55 on a layup by Matt Tamanosky with just over 11 minutes to play.

Things looked dim when Shippensburg went on an 18-5 run to take a game-high 78-60 lead with just under seven minutes remaining. But Mansfield didn't give up, doggedly fighting back to close the game to single digits again on a tip-in from Gerasimos Koutoufas with just under two minutes in the game.

Mansfield twice pulled to within eight points on a 3-pointer and jumper by Andreas Katopodis over the final minute but could pull no closer.

The Mountaineers played an excellent first half.

Mansfield took a 7-6 lead two minutes into the game on a 3-pointer by Brad Williams and would extend its advantage to 17-11 on a pair of free throws by Koutoufas nine minutes later.

A layup by Joe Marshall midway through the half put Mansfield up 22-17 and a Thomas Moore 3-pointer with just under eight minutes before halftime gave the Mountaineers a 25-19 lead.

But Mansfield, which had made more than 58% of its shots up to that point, went cold from the floor allowing Shippensburg to  zip off a 12-0 run over the next five minutes taking a 31-25 advantage with just under three minutes to go.

Shippensburg built the lead to 37-30 ninety second before halftime before Mansfield closed behind Ian Vasquez and Moore to cut the lead to 39-37 with 20 remaining.

For the game, Mansfield shot 53.4% from the floor, their third highest shooting percentage in a game this season, but Shippensburg hit 56% of their shots including 52% of their 3-pointers. The Raiders also held a 34-21 advantage on the boards.

Moore hit 7-of-11 from the floor including 4-6 of 3-point attempts for his 23 points. Brad Williams scored 13 points with Koutoufas adding 12 points. Ian Vasquez and Matt Tamanosky each chipped in with 10 points with Tamanosky scoring all his points in the second half.

Sleva led Shippensburg with a game-high 27 points and 13 rebounds. Justin McCarthur added 22 points.

Mansfield host Bloomsburg on Saturday.