MANSFIELD, Pa. – The Mansfield Mountaineers men's basketball team (6-13, 4-10 PSAC East) drops a heartbreaking loss to nationally ranked No. 5 East Stroudsburg University (17-2, 11-2 PSAC East) 80-79 on Wednesday, January 31st inside Decker Gymnasium. 

Both Saraj Ali and Idris Ali combined for 33 points, four steals, and ten rebounds on the night. 

The Mounties commanded the floor early with S. Ali scoring 8 points, providing a six-point advantage, 18-12, going into the under 12 media timeout. 

The Warriors stayed strong with a deep two, controlling the lead to 34-33 before the under four media timeout. 

Mansfield went into the half with a 42-40 lead over East Stroudsburg. 

Scott Woodring opened the second half with five points in the first four minutes. Diarmid Stewart closed the under sixteen media timeout with a clutch three pointer extending the lead to 52-44. 

ESU battled back and tied the game up at 54, right after S. Ali regained the lead with 14 minutes left to play.   

The opponent regained the lead with a big three and a strong slam back-to-back to make the lead 57-54. 

Julian Wilson started the under twelve media timeout with a three-point play tying up the game at 59 and again a few minutes later at 61. 

Nationally-ranked ESU took a four-point lead 69-67 with 7:37 to go in the final half.  

In the final two minutes, Woodring came back in knocking down a massive three-point shot.

The Warriors responded with a three of their own making it a two-point game with 1:20 to go. 

I. Ali marched down the court sinking another clutch three turning the lead to just one point. 

In the final eight seconds of the game the Warriors converted one last two-point jumper to hold the 80-79 advantage and came out victorious after two missed layups in the closing seconds for the Mounties. 

UP NEXT: 
The Mounties will start the second half of the PSAC Eastern Division schedule at Kutztown on Saturday, February 3. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.