MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – On Saturday afternoon, the Mansfield Mountaineers men's basketball team (7-17, 5-14 PSAC East) took a top team in Millersville (20-4, 15-3 PSAC East) to their limits in overtime action during Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division action, but the Marauders survived in the extra time and picked up the 98-91 overtime victory, 

Dickson picked up 25 points on the afternoon and led the team with three three-pointers. 

Saraj Ali scored 23 points, while bringing down 12 rebounds, good for his seventh double-double of the season. 

Mansfield jumped out to the early 9-4 lead, behind five points from Dickson making his first two buckets. 

After a 9-2 run, Millersville held down the 16-13 advantage with 12:11 left in the first half. 

The Mounties retook the lead behind a three-pointer to tie it from Jordan Montgomery and another basket from Dickson to acquire the slim 18-16 edge. This was a part of a 9-2 Mansfield sprint to hold the slim 22-19 edge midway through the first half. 

With the game tied at 22, Mansfield pushed out ten of the next 14 points over the next four minutes, with Diarmid Stewart and Idris Ali each contributing four points to hold the 32-26 advantage.

Millersville brought the game to within one, but the final three minutes saw the Mounties push out ten of the final 12 points, including a buzzer beater basket from S. Ali to shock the fans as Mansfield headed to the locker rooms with the 42-33 lead.  

The host commanded the court to start the second half, scoring nine of the first 11 points to crunch the Mounties lead to just 44-42. 

A Scott Woodring and S. Ali combo posted four more, but 11 unanswered points by the Marauders gave them the 53-48 advantage with 13:56 in the half. 

Mansfield reached within one at 9:04 remaining at 55-54, but the home team pushed out another quick 8-3 sprint to hold the 63-57 edge. 

Just when the home crowd though this was locked down, things got interesting as the Mounties fought back to make it 68-66 with 4:19 to go, looking to spoil the Marauders run at the top seed. 

A back-and-forth fight saw Millersville barely hold a slim 73-71 count with 1:39 in the half, but Dickson grabbed five crucial points in the final minute to take the 76-73 lead with just 44 second remaining.  

With 22 seconds remaining, the Marauders responded with the game-tying three-pointer to send the game to overtime with the PSAC Eastern Division battle deadlocked at 76. 

In overtime, it was all Millersville basketball, scoring 15 to Mansfield's 4 in the first four minutes as the host defended their court and took home the overtime victory, 98-91 

UP NEXT: 
On Wednesday, February 21, the Mounties return home to face Lock Haven. Tip-off with the Bald Eagles in Decker Gymnasium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.