LOCK HAVEN — The (6-9) Lock Haven Bald Eagles, in the midst of a cold streak, returned home on Tuesday to take on the equally icy (1-13) Mansfield Mountaineers. In a game where both teams desperately needed to get back into the win column, it would be The Haven who would get their get back, beating the Mountaineers in a close 78-76 thriller.

Prior to Tuesday’s game Lock Haven had lost seven of their last eight, the lone win in that span being a stunning 100-93 overtime upset over Slippery Rock. But since that game the Bald Eagles fell backwards, losing three straight including their last game against Kutztown, a game in which they led by as much as 18, but ended up conceding a late comeback and losing 70-61. Meanwhile Mansfield came into the game still searching for their first win in conference play, as they were off the heels of a seven game losing streak.

Bald Eagles head coach Mike Nestor made some surprising shakeups to Tuesday’s lineup, moving two starters in Mike Knouse and Dylan Scott to the bench in favor of Chris Cornish and Blake Deegan. The sudden benching of Scott certainly came as a surprise, as Scott is the team’s leading scorer this season, and after the game Nestor talked about it, hinting that it was temporary.

“Scott just needs to work on some things, so we figured we would have him come off the bench today, he will be back to normal,” said Nestor on Scott.

Despite coming off the bench Scott did end up playing the most minutes of anyone on the team (35) and scored a team high 18 points.

While Scott’s role shift may be temporary, Deegan’s may not be as after being inserted into the starting five he played a huge impact. Deegan ended his night with 10 points and eight rebounds on 4-5 from the field, also knocking down two threes.

The three point ball has not been kind to the Bald Eagles this season, as a team shooting just 31 percent from three this season, third worst in the conference. But a switch flipped in a big way against Mansfield, as Lock Haven could not miss from deep, shooting an incredible 57 percent on 21 attempts. Mike Green was a big reason why, going a perfect five for five from three and providing a huge spark off the bench.

“I knew someone had to step up,” Green said when asked about his performance. “I just wanted to play my role, make shots when I was open, and just keep playing hard.”

Offensively both teams put on a show, each shooting over 40 percent from the field and from three as defensive stops became very hard to come by. While the Bald Eagles had star performances from Scott, Green, Deegan, Luke Kenavan, and Keith Warren; Mansfield answered by having six players score eight points or more.

After trailing for most of the game, Mansfield’s defence began to lock down, halting The Haven offense and ended up taking a 74-70 lead with four minutes left. Then, a huge Scott three cut the lead to one before coach Nestor called time, hoping to give his team a mental reset as they tried to close out the win.

“[Scott’s] three was huge, just in terms of momentum.” Nestor said when asked after the game about the shot and subsequent timeout, “It was just a quick timeout to settle the nerves and say we just need to get a stop, get a stop, get a stop.”

And close it out they would, as after both teams strung together miss after miss, two huge free throws from Scott closed out Lock Haven’s sixth win on the year.

Lock Haven will return to the Thomas Field House on Saturday as they will take on the Millersville Marauders. Tip off is currently scheduled for 3 p.m.