On Monday night, the Mansfield Mountaineers men’s basketball team faced off against Dominican University of New York in non-conference action. The game was a tightly contested overtime battle, with both teams playing their hearts out. In the end, it was Dominican that emerged victorious with a final score of 92-88.
The Ali brothers were instrumental in Mansfield’s offense, combining for 48 points on the night. Saraj Ali scored his career high 26 points and also posted another double-double with ten rebounds. Idris Ali contributed 22 points and five rebounds to the team’s efforts. Both brothers are Loyalsock graduates and played well together throughout the game.
Dominican broke out to an early lead of 21-11 on their home court, setting an early momentum boost for themselves. However, Mansfield fought back with a vengeance and managed to take a commanding lead of 31-26 with five minutes left in the first half. Idris Ali scored seven points during this run, helping to propel his team forward.
As halftime approached, the Chargers held a narrow lead of 36-35 going into the final half. However, Mansfield owned the momentum after their dominance in the paint, where they scored 28 points to Dominican’s 17. The Ali brothers combined to score 19 of these points during this period.
The second half was just as intense as the first, with six lead changes in the first five minutes alone. Despite this, Dominican managed to maintain a slight advantage over Mansfield throughout much of the game. With ten minutes remaining and both teams tied at 60-60, Saraj Ali stepped up and scored six of the next seven points to give Mansfield a hard-fought victory by one point at last – an exciting conclusion to a truly memorable game!