Box Score

Erie, Pa. – The Mercyhurst men's basketball team stormed out to a 45-30 halftime lead on their way to a 76-59 victory over visiting Ohio Valley Friday in the Mercyhurst Holiday Classic. Nnamdi Nnadili led all scorers with a season-high 24 points, followed by Brian McTear, who recorded 19 points.

The Lakers are now 7-0, off to their best start since the 1977-78 season, when the team began the campaign 9-0 on the way to a 26-3 record. Ohio Valley falls to 2-4 with the loss.

Mercyhurst scored the first nine points of the game, holding the Fighting Scots scoreless for the opening 4:55 of play. The teams traded baskets for the next four minutes, and Mercyhurst held a 16-9 lead with 11:11 remaining in the first half. Nnadili then hit a three, followed by a Ryann Bradford dunk, giving the Lakers a 12 point lead at 21-9 with 10:11 left in the first half.

The next five minutes belonged to the Lakers, as they outscored the Fighting Scots 16-7 to take a 37-16 lead, their largest of the contest, with five and a half minutes left in the opening session. Ohio Valley fought back in the final five minutes of the frame, trimming the deficit to 45-30 by halftime.

Nnadili led the Lakers with 16 first-half points, and McTear added 10. The Lakers shot 51.4 percent from the field and made four out of eight three-point attempts. The Fighting Scots shot 37.9 percent from the field in the first half.

The scoring pace slowed considerably at the beginning of the second half, with the teams combining for five made field goals over the first seven minutes. Leading 50-37, the Lakers received a three-pointer from Nnadili with 12:48 left in the game to give them a 16-point lead. Ohio Valley responded with a 12-2 run over the next five minutes to slice the Laker lead to six points at 55-49.

Mercyhurst answered with a 17-4 surge over the ensuing four and a half minutes to pull away from Ohio Valley while gaining a 19 point advantage at 72-53 with 3:36 left in the game. Mercyhurst kept a large lead the rest of the way, prevailing 76-59.

The Lakers shot 46.2 percent from the field for the game, including 40 percent from three-point range (8-20). The Fighting Scots shot 36.2 percent from the field and just 25 percent on three-point goals during the contest. Ohio Valley outrebounded Mercyhurst 39-36, including 15-12 in offensive rebounds.

Nnadili finished with a season-high 24 points on 9-of-18 field goals, including 4-for-9 shooting from behing the arc. He is the fourth different Laker to score 20 or more points in a game this season.

McTear recorded a season-high nine assists to go along with his 19 points. He also added four assists and five rebounds.

Bradford and Stu Anglum grabbed 11 rebounds each, the first duo of Lakers to record double-digit rebounds in the same game since Dec. 6, 2006 at Edinboro, when Shelby Chaney had 13 rebounds to go with 22 points and Richard Field collected 12 caroms in Mercyhurst's 63-57 loss. Bradford's 11 rebounds Friday set a new career high, and he scored seven points, while Anglum scored five.

Jordan Armstrong scored eight points, while Niv Zinder and Eric Travis each added four points. Anthony Terry and Iddo Cohen scored three and two points, respectively.

Ohio Valley placed three players in double-figures, as Micah Mills led with 16 points. Sean Whiting scored 12 points and Lance Jones notched 11 markers.

The Lakers play host to Columbia Union Saturday at 6 p.m. in the third game of a triple-header that begins at 1 p.m. with the Mercyhurst women's basketball team taking on Lake Erie and continues at 4 p.m. with Roberts Wesleyan men against Ohio Valley.