BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - After trailing by as much as 15 in the second half, the Mansfield University men's basketball team used a 9-0 run in the closing minutes to tie the game, but Bloomsburg University scored the final four points of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) to steal a 78-74 victory on their home floor on Monday night, Feb. 14.
 
Freshman Justice Smith filled up the stat sheet, finishing 9-of-19 from the field, adding three trifectas, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals. Sophomore Jaz Farrell finished behind him with 16 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. Freshman Manir Waller notched his first double-double of his young career, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Marcus Friend also did a little bit of everything, adding eight points, two steals, four rebounds and six assists, while freshman Scott Woodring finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
 
The Huskies finished 56 percent from the floor (35-of-63) to outshoot the Mountaineers (28-of-73), but MU made up for it at the Charity stripe, finishing with nine more makes than BU.
 
In the second half, Smith threw down a fastbreak dunk to cut the lead back to single digits, 63-55, with under 10 minutes remaining. However, the Huskies countered with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to take their largest lead of the night, 70-65.
 
The Mounties followed with a 10-2 run, highlighted by a Friend to Smith alley-oop, cutting the deficit to 72-65 with 7:14 remaining. Smith had five points during the run.
 
Bloomsburg scored on their next possession by the Mounties erupted on a 9-0 run caped off by a 3-point play the old-fashioned way to knot the game at 74-74 with 3:52 remaining. Waller finished a put-back dunk to set up Friend's game-tying free throw. The Mountaineers defense ignited the run, forcing three Huskie turnovers.
 
After a scoreless two minutes, the Huskies connected to regain the lead, 76-74. The Mountaineers got stops on the next two possessions, but the Huskies converted a bucket off an MU turnover to go up five with 40 seconds remaining and ultimately put the game away. The Mounties' last basket game at the 3:51 mark.
 
A large part in allowing the Mountaineers to sneak back into the game was the turnover battle, which Mansfield secured, 20-1, while also leading in rebounds 39-37.
 
The Mountaineers started the contest on an 8-3 run and led for most of the first half, leading by as much as seven, 18-11 at the 12:09 mark following a deep 3-pointer from Farrell. However, the Huskies outscored Mansfield, 31-12 over the final 10 minutes of the half to take a 44-33 advantage into the break.
 
The Huskies shot 13-of-20 from the field and 5-of-8 from behind the arch during the run, while the Mounties began to cool off, shooting 5-of-17 from the floor and just 2-of-10 from deep. Smith finished with 11 points and four assists in the half, coming on late with two 3-pointers in the final three minutes to keep the Mountaineers within reach.
 
Travis Elmore led five Huskies in double-figures, while Justin Anderson pulled in a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
The Mounties are back in action on Wednesday night, Feb. 16 at East Stroudsburg, starting at 7:30 p.m.