Feb. 24, 2007

Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - Avi Fogel scored a game-high 20 points and Shelby Chaney notched a double-double in his return to the Hammermill Center, as Mercyhurst defeated Gannon, 79-74. With the win, the Lakers wrapped up the two-seed in the GLIAC South, meaning Wayne State will travel to Erie for a 7:00 PM quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday evening.

Fogel hit 7-of-10 shots in the game on his way to 20 points. Chaney knocked down 7-of-12 field goals and grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with 17 points.

T.J. Mathis scored nine of his 16 points in the first 5:41, as the Lakers took an early 11-10 lead after a tip-in by the 5-9 guard.

The first half was a see-saw battle that saw five ties and 13 lead changes before Gannon took a 34-28 lead into the half.

Mercyhurst came out in the second half and went on a 9-2 run capped by a Mitch Brennan three to claim a 37-36 lead. Gannon, however, scored the next nine points of the game, including five by Robert Buckner, for a 45-37 advantage with 14:42 to play.

The Golden Knights clung to the lead until a three-pointer by Fogel tied the game at 49-49 with 10:59 to go. Gannon took the lead briefly, but two free throws by Ryann Bradford tied the game at 51-51 with 9:51 left and two lay ins and a free throw by Shelby Chaney gave the Lakers 56-51 lead at the 8:37 mark.

An Aurimas Truskauskas lay up would give the Golden Knights their final lead of the evening, 57-56 with 7:12 left. The Lakers quickly regrouped, however, and went on an 11-1 run to put the game away. Mathis started the run with a three, then Terry Smith hit a three and Chaney a jumper before Mathis capped the run with another triple at the 4:55 mark to put the Lakers ahead 67-58.

After Mercyhurst built the lead to 10 points, 74-64, with 57 seconds to play, two turnover sparked a six-point Gannon surge that cut it to four, 74-70 with 32 seconds left. But with Gannon forced to foul, the Lakers hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to cap the game.

Field finished the game with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, seven rebounds and two steals.

Buckner led the Golden Knights with 19 points, but went 0-of-7 from long range. In fact, Gannon hit just 3-of-21 from beyond the arc in the game.

Pat Washington came off the bench for 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting and thee steals. Cory Knight added 11.

After not shooting a free throw in the first half, the Lakers knocked down 13-of-15 in the second half, 87 percent. The hot second half shooting carried over to the field and beyond the arc. Mercyhurst hit 52 percent overall in the final 20 minutes and drilled 6-of-11 threes.

Gannon won the rebounding battle, 47-36.