JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Mansfield University men's basketball team shot 58 percent from the floor in the first period to stay within reach of red-hot University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, but the Mountain Cats were clicking on all cylinders in the second half to earn a 107-69 PSAC crossover victory inside the Sports Center on Wednesday night, Jan. 29.

Senior center Trevor English dominated in the paint by collecting a career-high 18 rebounds to go with 26 points. English notched his eighth double-double and was 11-of-23 from the floor in the dominant effort. Freshman Jaz Farrell was an efficient 4-of-7 shooting, totaling 10 points and junior Taylor Sweeney added nine points and six rebounds.   

The Mounties (5-13, 4-9 PSAC) shot well from the floor in the first half, connecting on 17-of-29 shots from the field and 4-of-9 from three to stay within striking distance heading to the break.

However, the Mounties suffered from a cold shooting half (9-of-34) and UPJ (16-4, 10-3 PSAC) shot 62 percent (23-of-37) from the floor and 54 percent from three (7-of-13) to erupt for 60 points in the second half. The Mountain Cats forced nine turnovers which led  to 19 points in 37 possessions during the run.

In the first half, both teams countered with trifectas to open the contest, before UPJ used a 5-0 run to take an 8-3 lead three minutes in. The Mounties equalized the run with seven straight points from English to retake the lead, 10-8. A back-and-forth following ten minutes featured four ties before UPJ ended the half on a 16-10 run to carry a 47-41 lead into the locker room. The two squads mirrored their production from the floor during the stretch (5-of-9 shooting), but the Mountain Cats knocked down five more shots from the line to make up the scoring difference. English led all scorers at the break with 15 points (7-of-10) and six rebounds.

Josh Wise scored eighteen points on 8-of-10 shooting to lead six Mountain Cats in double-figures.

The Mounties continue their road trip Saturday, Feb. 1 at 3 p.m. when they head to West Chester University to face the Golden Rams.