BLOOMSBURG – Mansfield outscored Bloomsburg 41-30 in the second half and Tyler Moffe's lay-up in the final seconds forced overtime, but the Mounties fell 89-81 to cap the 2019 season Wednesday night at Nelson Fieldhouse.
Mansfield (4-24, 1-19 PSAC) had a big first-half from junior Garrett Cook to climb back from a 15-point deficit. Cook compiled 15 of his 21 points before halftime, hitting all five of his shots from beyond the arc. Bloomsburg (7-18, 3-16 PSAC) was led by Peyton Mortellite, who finished with 11 first-half points.
The Mountaineers came out firing in the second-half, opening the half on an 8-0 run on the back of consecutive 3-pointers from Moffe and Cook. After an early Bloomsburg timeout, Mansfield continued its run with Eli Alvin adding nine of his 16 points in the second frame. The Mounties claimed their first lead of the night with 8:53 remaining at 57-55 following a Moffe tip-in just before the under-eight media timeout.
Neither team was going down without a fight, as the score would stay within three-points the rest of the way.
Clinging to a two-point lead with 15 seconds remaining, the Huskies would have their most costly turnover of the game as Taylor Sweeney gathered a loose ball and passed ahead to Cook, who missed a transition three-pointer. Moffe was there to gather the offensive rebound and lay in the game-tying basket with only five seconds remaining, sending the contest to overtime.
Bloomsburg proved to be too much for Mansfield in the extra frame, as the Huskies would outscore the Mounties 16-8 in route to an 89-81 victory. Mansfield shot 42% from the field, including 43% from 3-point land. Bloomsburg hit nearly half of their shots from the field at 49%.
Mansfield was led in scoring by Moffe who finished with 24 points to go along with seven rebounds. He was followed by Cook who added 21 points, going 7-of-10 from beyond the arc. Alvin was solid in the season finale adding 16 points and six rebounds.
Bloomsburg had four players score in double figures, including Travis Elmore who compiled a game-high 27 points and ten rebounds. Mortellite added 21 points in the winning effort.
