Mansfield University Athletics issued the following announcement on Jan. 12.
The Mansfield University men's basketball team did their best Reggie Miller impression, scoring eight points in the final 17 seconds to pull within three of Shippensburg University, but the Raiders held on to earn an 85-81 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) victory on Wednesday night, Jan. 12 inside Decker Gymnasium.
Trailing 81-73 with 17 seconds remaining, the Mounties (1-13, 0-8 PSAC) created two turnovers to ignite an 8-2 run, highlighted by five points from freshman Justice Smith, to pull within three, 83-80 with six seconds to go.
The Mountaineers forced another Raiders' (10-3, 7-2 PSAC) turnover on the ensuing in-bound play but were unable to capitalize and Shippensburg drilled the final two free throws to put the game away.
Smith eclipsed the 20-point mark for the third time in four games, leading the Mountaineers' offense with 29 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Jaz Farrell added 17 points and four rebounds, while Scott Woodring poured in 12 points to go with five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Marcus Friend finished with eight points, four rebounds and a game-high seven assists and senior Eli Alvin also had eight points. Friend and Smith each finished with two steals.
Trailing 43-31 out of the break, the Mounties stormed out on an 11-4 run capped off by a Farrell dunk to cut the deficit to 47-42 with 14:50 to go.
Shippensburg converted a pair of free throws to halt the run, but Farrell immediately answered with a trifecta to trim the deficit back to four.
The Mounties outscored Shippensburg 18-12 through the opening nine minutes of the first half, improving their shooting to 61 percent (8-of-13) from the floor and 50 percent from three during the run.
The Raiders used an 8-2 run to extend their lead back to 10, 59-49 with just over ten minutes remaining.
The Mounties pulled within eight, 66-58, following an emphatic dunk by Smith, but Shippensburg answered with a bucket on the ensuing possession.
Farrell drilled his third 3-pointer of the night to pull the Mounties to 80-73 with 32 seconds to go and set up the dramatic finish.
The Mounties outscored the Raiders, 50-42 in the second half thanks to 63 percent (20-of-32) from the floor and 56 percent (5-of-9) shooting from three. The Mountaineers won the turnover battle, 14-9 and finished with three more steals than the Raiders.
In the first half, the Raiders built an early 18-13 lead through the opening nine minutes before the Mounties used a 5-0 run to trim the deficit to one with 9:46 to go. However, the Raiders countered with five straight to regain a 23-17 advantage.
A layup by Alvin brought the Mounties within four, 23-19, with 7:41 remaining, but the Raiders outscored MU 18-12 to close out the period. Shippensburg connected on 8-of-12 shots from the floor and 2-of-4 shots from three during the run while holding the Mounties to 4-of-14 shooting.
The Mountaineers forced seven Raiders' turnovers in the half but went 1-of-11 from behind the arch, while Ship knocked down six trifectas.
Rashon Johnson led Shippensburg with a 29-point, 11-rebound double-double on 11-of-17 shooting.
The Mountaineers travel to West Chester University on Saturday, Jan. 15 for a 3 p.m. PSAC game.
Original source can be found here.
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