KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Sophomore Jaz Farrell scored a season-high 25 points and the Mansfield University men's basketball team battled for the lead in the second half, but Kutztown University won the battle at the free throw line to secure a 101-93 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) victory at home on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 19.

Farrell's season high came on 11-of-17 shooting, including 3-of-7 from shots behind the arch. The sophomore added seven rebounds, three assists and a steal. Freshman Justice Smith continued his scoring streak, finishing with 19 points, six rebounds and a tie for the team-high of five assists with sophomore Marcus Friend. Friend also scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds and plucked six steals, while senior Eli Alvin notched 18 points on an efficient 8-of-13 shooting.

The Mounties (4-21, 3-16 PSAC) shot well from the field, finishing 37-of-69 (54 percent) while knocking down a game-high seven 3-pointers. However, the Golden Bears (8-18, 5-15 PSAC) also shot 54 percent (36-of-67) and made 12 more shots at the charity stripe to make up the scoring difference.

The Mounties finished with two more steals than KU, but the Golden Bears won the battle of the boards, 38-31.

In the first half, the Mounties built an early 7-2 lead through the opening two minutes thanks to back-to-back buckets by Farrell and a trifecta by Friend. Kutztown followed with five straight points to knot the game at seven at the 16:51 mark.

Alvin scored his first four points on the next two Mountaineer possessions to give the Mounties an 11-7 lead, before KU cut their deficit to two with 15:20 remaining. Kutztown capped the run at seven unanswered, before later extending the lead to 18-13 with just over 12 minutes to go in the half.

Farrell scored his ninth point of the half when he connected on a triple off an assist from Friend to cut the Mountaineer deficit to 24-23 with under 10 minutes to go. KU remained on top until a Farrell dunk two minutes later regained the MU advantage at 27-26.

Kutztown immediately answered to regain the lead, but the Mountaineers countered with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes, led by four points from Smith to take their largest lead to this point, 34-28.
Following a layup by Perez to again put the Mounties up six, the Golden Bears erupted on a 9-0 run to retake the lead, 41-38 with two minutes to go. Farrell connected on a 3-pointer to knot the game back at 41 at the 1:48 mark.

Perez sank a pair of free throws to knot the game again at 43-43 before Kutztown scored the final basket of the half to carry a 45-43 lead into the break. Farrell finished the first half 7-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-3 from behind the arch to lead the game with 16 points.

Trailing, 45-43, out of the break, the Mounties opened the second half with four unanswered points through the first two minutes to take the lead.

The Mounties remained on top until the 16:25 mark when KU capped off a 5-0 run to regain the lead, 52-51. The next seven minutes featured 10 lead changes and five ties before KU used a 5-0 run to take a four-point lead, 73-69, with 9:41 to go.

The Golden Bears started getting to the free throw line with consistency and built at 92-82 lead with 1:29 remaining, their first double-digit lead of the game. The Golden Bears attempted 23 shots at the charity stripe, making 17, compared to the Mountaineers 12 attempts to this point.

Points by Alvin cut the Mountaineers' deficit to seven two more times over the next minute before Smith went coast-to-coast off a defensive rebound to net a jumper and cut the KU lead to 95-89 with 9 seconds to go.

However, the Golden Bears were able to convert their free throws while keeping the Mounties at bay from there, closing out the 101-93 victory.

Wesley Butler led Kutztown with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Evan-Eric Longino added 20 points and eight rebounds for KU.

The Mounties begin a full slate of conference games on Monday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 at Shippensburg University.