MANSFIELD – Senior Trevor English surpassed 1,000 career points and the second-unit for the Mansfield University men's basketball team erased a 20-point second half deficit, but Gannon University closed out the PSAC contest on a 12-5 run to leave Decker Gymnasium with a 74-67 victory on Friday afternoon, Dec. 20.

English poured in 16 points but it was his sixth of the evening that made the senior center the 26^th player in program history to reach the 1K milestone in a Mountaineer uniform. English was 8-of-12 from the floor and added three rebounds.
Trailing, 52-32 just three minutes into the second half, the Mounties (2-7, 1-3 PSAC) turned to their second unit. Junior Christian Simmons jump started the effort with a 3-point play the old fashion way and junior Eli Alvin immediately followed with a trifecta to trim the deficit to 16.

The Mountaineers went into a full-court press to slow down the Golden Knights (3-5, 2-2 PSAC) offense – which knocked down six 3-pointers in the first half – limiting them to 10 points over a 12-minute span. During that same time frame, the Mounties scored 30 points, led by nine points from Simmons, seven from Alvin and seven from junior Jonathan Ward.

Junior Garrett Cook returned to the game and made his presence known by knocking down the game-tying 3-pointer from deep to knot the game at 62 with 5:50 to go. Gannon converted on a 3-point play on the ensuing possession, but freshman Jaz Ferrell knocked down a 3-point equalizer with 4:47 remaining.

However, Mansfield could only muster two more points compared to Gannon's nine as the Golden Knights converted 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch to close out the victory.

Simmons matched English's team-high with 16 points. Alvin dished out three helpers, pulled in three rebounds and netted seven points. Ward scored all seven of his points during the late run and Cook finished with eight.

In the first half, English was red-hot from the floor, connecting on 7-of-10 shots for a team-high 14 points. However, Gannon seemingly could not miss from deep as they connected on 7-of-11 trifectas to head into the break leading 43-29. Chris Clancy knocked down 6-of-7 trifectas to lead all scorers with 17 points and help Gannon extend its lead.

Clancy finished with a game-high 22 points and Frank Webb Jr. added 11 points and nine assists.

The Mounties are back in action tomorrow, Dec. 21 when they host PSAC foe Clarion University at 3 p.m. inside Decker Gymnasium.