LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – In a game of runs, the Lock Haven University (8-12, 5-11 PSAC) men's basketball team came up with a 16-0 run at a critical moment in the game to erase a five-point deficit en route to a 73-71 victory over visiting Mansfield University (4-18, 3-13) in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup on Wednesday evening.
The win propelled Lock Haven to a season sweep of the Mounties and powered the program to its second win in a row to open the month of February.
Mansfield got on the board first with a jumper on its opening possession, but it was Lock Haven taking over the game during the next four minutes of play.
Jesse McPherson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) took an
Eli Washington (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) pass and finished with layup to open an 11-0 LHU run. Washington capped off the run with a jumper of his own as the Bald Eagles owned an 11-2 lead with 15:56 to play in the opening half.
After the Lock Haven surge, Mansfield clawed away at the Bald Eagles lead and knotted the game up at 23-23 with 7:25 to play in the first half. The Mounties finished the half scoring 13 of the final 19 points to take a 36-29 lead into the locker room.
Washington led Lock Haven's offense in the first half with an 11-point effort in just 12 minutes of action. McPherson also added 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting over the first 20 minutes of the game.
Out of the halftime break, LHU wasted little time in drawing the game to a deadlock.
MarkAnthony Fidelis (Largo, Md./DeMatha) knocked down a three-pointer to cap off a 9-2 Lock Haven run, forcing a Mansfield timeout with the game tied up at 38-38 with under 18 minutes to play.
Following the Mansfield timeout, the Bald Eagles regained the lead in a back and forth second half when
Dymir Montague (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) knocked down a three-pointer to put the Crimson and White up by a 43-40 margin with 16 minutes to play.
Mansfield regained the lead with an 11-3 surge of its own before Lock Haven responded to build a double-digit lead with under 10 minutes remaining in the contest.
DaQuan Granberry (Linwood, Pa./Chichester) took a Washington pass and drove the lane and finished a tough layup to kick-start a 16-0 Lock Haven run. The Lock Haven outburst was capped off with an
Isaiah Stewart (Madison, Wis./Madison La Follette) trey as the Bald Eagles owned a commanding 61-51 lead with 8:38 to play. Stewart's three pointer forced Mansfield to burn another timeout to slow the Lock Haven momentum.
This time the Mansfield timeout wouldn't be enough to completely reverse the fortunes of the visiting Mounties. Mansfield pulled back to within a point over a pair of occasions as the teams traded treys late in the contest, but a McPherson layup grew the Lock Haven lead back to three points, 71-68, with 1:54 remaining. Fidelis added a layup with 80 ticks to play to push the lead to multiple possessions.
Mansfield made one last ditch effort at the end of the game, but a last-second three pointer came up short as the Bald Eagles held on for a 73-71 win.
Fidelis led the way for the Bald Eagles with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including a 4-for-6 effort from beyond the arc. McPherson added 16 points, while Washington just missed a triple-double with 13 points, a game-high nine assists and a team-high eight rebounds. Washington's nine assists matches his career high set last month against Indiana University of Pa. Granberry rounded out Lock Haven's quartet of players in double figures with 11 points.
Up Next:
The Bald Eagles return to Thomas Fieldhouse to host Shippensburg on Saturday, February 12. That matchup is set to tipoff at 3:00 p.m.
