Kutztown Upsets Mansfield, Other Seeds Hold in Men's Quarterfinals
Kutztown, which only punched its ticket to the PSAC Tournament with a win on the last day of the regular season, went into East co-champion Mansfield's home gym and came away with a four-point victory to score the only upset of Tuesday night. East No. 2 seed East Stroudsburg topped Cheyney to earn the right to host the semifinals and championship game. The Warriors will welcome not only Kutztown but also West No. 1 and No. 2 IUP and Clarion, respectively, after IUP topped Gannon and Clarion topped Mercyhurst.
Friday, March 5 - Semifinals
Clarion vs. Kutztown, 5:30 p.m.
IUP vs. East Stroudsburg, 7:30 p.m.
Kutztown 65, Mansfield 61
In a game between two usually high-scoring teams, points were at a premium as Kutztown battled through a couple of cold stretches and took advantage of a cold-shooting night from Mansfield to top the Mountaineers 65-61. The Golden Bears got 24 points each from Stephen Dennis and Julius Gray and after racing out to a 14-point lead in the first half, allowed Mansfield to come close but never gave up the lead again for the rest of the game.
Yuseff Carr scored 20 points for Mansfield while Ryan Callahan had 18 and Justin Simmons had 12. However, the Mountaineers struggled through a cold-shooting evening, shooting just 31.7 percent for the game, including just 25 percent in the first half. Despite the shooting disparity, Mansfield trailed by just four at the break and cut the lead to two in the second half. Both teams shot the same number of free throws (23).
IUP 62, Gannon 53
IUP battled through a poor-shooting night as well, shooting just 30 percent from the floor for the game but the Crimson Hawks made more free throws (21) than Gannon attempted (20) and also took advantage of 22 turnovers by the Golden Knights while only committing 14 turnovers of their own to advance with a 62-53 win over the defending PSAC tournament champions.
The Crimson Hawks were paced by four players in double figures, led by Darryl Webb's double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds, including 10 offensive boards. Akida McLain led IUP with 13 points while Julian Sanders had 11 and Kevin Stewart added 10. All seven players who saw action for IUP in the game scored. Gannon's leading scorer, George Johnson, was held to just six points as the Knights were led by Travis Brannen with 12 points and Steve Piotrowicz with 11.
East Stroudsburg 76, Cheyney 65
East Stroudsburg rallied back from a five-point halftime deficit and outscored Cheyney by 16 points in the second half to overcome 24 points from Sharif Bray to defeat the Wolves 76-65 and earn the right to host the semifinals and championship game on Friday and Saturday. The Warriors outrebounded the Wolves by 10, which helped balance Cheyney's remarkably few turnovers - just 5 - in the game.
Andy Heimbach led East Stroudsburg with 12 points while Mike Tobin had 13 and Terrance King added 12. Tyrone Smith added 13 for Cheyney. East Stroudsburg held an advantage at both the free throw line and from beyond the arc. The Warriors made 16 free throws while Cheyney attempted just 14 while Cheyney, outside of Bray, was ice cold from beyond the arc, going just 4-for-17 for the game while ESU was 12-for-25 from three, including a 6-for-12 performance by Heimbach.
Clarion 76, Mercyhurst 69
Clarion battled back from a seven-point deficit with under five minutes remaining, going on a 21-7 run to end the game to defeat Mercyhurst 76-69. The win marked Clarion's first home PSAC playoff win since 1997 while the Lakers were competing in their first-ever PSAC Tournament.
Shameel Carty led Clarion with 21 points while Paul McQueen had a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds. Jamar Harrison had 15 points while Lloyd Harrison had 14 and nine assists for the Golden Eagles, who shot 50 percent from the floor while holding Mercyhurst to just 40 percent. The Lakers were led by Jeremiah Wise's 20 points while Heiden Ratner had 15 and Christian Cornelius had 11.