MANSFIELD, Pa. – The regionally-ranked Lock Haven men's basketball team fell on the road at Mansfield, 73-68, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division battle on Wednesday night (Feb. 21).
The Bald Eagles were winners of four straight games coming into this evening and move to 15-4 in the PSAC and 17-7 overall. Lock Haven, who already clinched a postseason berth, is in third place in the PSAC East.
The Bald Eagles were also named a top-10 team in the first official NCAA Division II Regional ranking released today and move one step closer to dancing in March madness.
The Haven and Mansfield split home-and-home games this season and the Mounties improve to 8-17 overall and 6-14 in the PSAC with a chance to lock in the six seed for the conference tournament.
Lock Haven built a 43-35 lead in the first half, but Mansfield started the second half on an 18-10 run to tie the game at 53-53 with 11:31 to go.
The Haven regained the lead three more times over the next four minutes, but a triple but the Mounties ahead by one with 7:48 to go, and they never looked back.
After shooting over 50 percent from the floor in the first half, the Bald Eagles shot just 32 percent in the second half to let Mansfield crawl back into the game.
The Mounties then turned to 3-point land, where they knocked down five trifectas to Lock Haven's one and turned to a full-court press that allowed them to win the points-off-turnovers battle.
Justice Shoats (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Holy Redeemer) led the way with a game-high 28 points on an efficient 60 percent shooting (13-of-22), adding six rebounds and four assists.
Collin Jones (Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain) and
Mike Knouse (Horsham, Pa./Archbishop Wood) each added eight points, while
Dyson Harward (Danville, Pa./Danville) pulled in eight rebounds.
NCAA Regional Rankings:
Today the NCAA released the first edition of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Rankings and The Haven men were listed. Today's (Feb. 21) ranking listed 10 teams in alphabetical order. These rankings are an important tool used by the Selection Committee in determining the field for the upcoming NCAA DII National Tournament. Another ranking will be released next week.
Up Next:
The Bald Eagles host Shippensburg inside Thomas Fieldhouse at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25.
