Mounties Host Bloom for Black Out Decker Night Wednesday

MANSFIELD – The Mansfield University men's basketball team will kick off its final push for a PSAC playoff berth when the Mountaineers host Bloomsburg in a critical PSAC East contest this Wednesday evening.

Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at First Citizens Community Bank Court in Decker Gymnasium.

It's an official Black Out Decker Night with all fans urged to wear black to the game. Free tickets are available at the Tioga County Branch of the YMCA located next to the Mansfield High School.

Mansfield will be out to avenge an 86-79 loss at Bloomsburg a month ago. The Huskies rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit in that game with the Mountaineers trailing by one-point with 39 seconds remaining.

Mansfield is currently tied with Millersville for sixth-place and final playoff spot from the PSAC East with a 7-12 division mark. Bloomsburg is tied for fourth-place with West Chester with a 9-9 division record. Mansfield has three divisional games remaining including the contest with Bloomsburg while the Huskies have four divisional matchups left.

The Mountaineers have a strong starting lineup with four of five starters ranked among the top 50 scorers in the PSAC. Juniors Matt Tamanosky and Malik Carter both average 17.0 points per game to top the team in scoring. Cedrick Powell averages 11.6 points per outing while Jahyde Gardiner is scoring at a 11.0 points per game clip.

Tamanosky is second in the conference in shooting percentage hitting 62.8% of his attempts from the floor while Carter ranks second in the PSAC in steals averaging 2.2 per game. Powell is fourth in assist dishing out an average of 5.9 per game.

Bloomsburg, which has won four of its last five outings, is led by one of the top players in the conference in Christian Mortellite. The senior ranks third in the PSAC in scoring averaging 22.9 points per game and is one of the deadliest long-distance shooters in the league ranking first in 3-point field goals per game (4.0) and second in 3-point field goal percentage (44.9%).