Erie, Pa. – Mercyhurst Men's Basketball faces two opponents this week in Erie, Pa. The Lakers host D'Youville College on Wednesday, December 7th, at 7:00 p.m. and follow that up on Saturday, December 10th, against Alliance University at 2:00 p.m.
Last Weekend
The Lakers faced their first two PSAC opponents last weekend, slippting the pair. Mercyhurst beat West Chester University who is currently ranked 6th in the PSAC East and fell to 3rd-ranked Millersville University. The Lakers had an early lead, 11-4, in the first quarter against the Golden Rams with Michael Bradley scoring nine of those 11 points. West Chester came back right before halftime to give them the lead. it was for naught, though, as during the second half the Lakers dominated their opponent, outscoring them 42-22 as Mercyhurst finished out the game winning 81-66.
Millersville opened the game early with a 10-2 lead. The Marauders only had a small lead going into halftime, though. Mercyhurst found a way to tie the game in the second quarter. Neither team could find a clear advantage during the third quarter, but Millersville pulled away from Mercyhurst towards the end to finish out the game with Millersville winning 84-73.
Laker Stats
The Lakers scored 43 points off turnovers in their last two games. They also had 24 points coming from bench players, showing the depth of their lineup. Jeff Planutis scored 22 points, shooting 6-13 from the field in the West Chester game and Michael Bradley had 31 points for the weekend while Nicholas Lang finished the weekend with 21.
Long History
The Lakers have never lost to D'Youville, holding a 4-0 lead in the series with Mercyhurst scoring 90 or more points in every game. The most recent time the Lakers played D'Youville was during the 2021-22 season. Last year, Mercyhurst won by an impressive score of 104-56. MiyKah McIntosh dominated the game with 28 points. 12 Lakers managed to get points on the board for the Lakers during that game. The last time the Lakers played Alliance University was in 2010. The two opponents have only faced each other one time and the Lakers managed to pull away with a win of 63-53.
Scouting the Opponents
The D'Youville Saints have a current overall record of 2-5. In their last game against Molloy, the Saints' starters scored the majority of the points with 57 of the team's 78 points and they scored 20 of their 78 points off of turnovers. Two of their top shooters are Renard Fontes Jules who is second in field goal percentage and Luke Theisen who leads the team in three-point percentage (45.8).
Alliance University's overall record is 4-6. In their last game against Caldwell University, they scored the majority of their points in the second half with 31 points in the second canto. As a team, they scored 12 points off of turnovers and also had 12 points come off of the bench. Their top scorer was #12 Isiah Murphy with 18 points on 7-15 shooting to go along with five rebounds.
What's Next
Next week the Lakers host Roberts Wesleyan on Wednesday, December 14th. Then on Sunday, December 18, the Lakers host a conference game against Shippensburg University before Lock Haven comes to town the following day.
