EDINBORO, Pa. – Mercyhurst survived a late second-half surge by Edinboro that forced overtime to snap a two-game skid and earn the Lakers first PSAC Western Division victory, 76-71, in front of 1,417 fans at McComb Fieldhouse.

The Laker victory also snapped the Fighting Scots 31-game home winning-streak as Mercyhurst improved to 13-3 overall, 1-2 in the PSAC West while Edinboro moves to 12-4 overall, 2-1 in the PSAC West.

Mercyhurst trailed 0-2 to begin the game but would not fall behind again until 37 seconds into overtime, taking commanding leads in the first and second halves that appeared to have shut Edinboro down. 

However, a resilient Fighting Scot squad battled back in the second half after trailing by as many as 15 points with 10:40 remaining after missing their first 15 shots to open the stanza. An 8-2 run by Edinboro trimmed the Lakers lead to single digits with 8:15 remaining. 

Mercyhurst's hot scoring went cold in the remaining minutes as the Lakers failed to make a field goal in the final 4:49 to keep the door open for an Edinboro comeback. 

With 32 seconds left to play, the Lakers held a slim four-point advantage that was cut in half on an Edinboro layup with 23 seconds left before Brian McTear made one of two free-throws to hold a 62-59 lead with 14 seconds left on the clock. 

Then, with 1.3 seconds left on the clock Edinboro's Chris Bess nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to kick it into overtime.   In overtime, the Lakers outscored Edinboro 14-9 to seal the victory. 

In the first half, Mercyhurst benefitted from a balanced scoring attack as six of nine players scored, led by Elliot Engelmann's nine points and six rebounds. The Lakers shot 43.8 percent from the field, hitting 14-of-32 attempts to mark the first time in three games that Mercyhurst sank over 40 percent of its shots in the first half. 

Edinboro scored the first two points of the half but would not lead again as Mercyhurst had the hot hand in the first eight minutes, hitting 8-of-13 shots, including two 3-pointers by Engelmann to build an 18-7 lead at 12:03. 

It would be a 20-10 lead for the Lakers with just over 10 minutes to play as Edinboro began to mount a comeback on an 11-2 run that cut Mercyhurst's lead to one, 22-21, with five minutes left to play. However, the Lakers were able to stretch their lead back to nine on their last field goal of the half, a 3-pointer by Jeremiah Wise, before taking a 39-2 advantage into the locker room. 

Mercyhurst finished shooting 48.3 percent from the field in comparison to Edinboro's 31.0 percent.
The Lakers were led by Nnamdi Nnadili with 17 points while Jordan Armstrong added 16 points and 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year. McTear added 15 tallies and eight helpers as Engelmann chipped in 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Wise and Ryann Bradford rounded out the Laker scorers with nine and four points. 

Mercyhurst is next in action on Saturday when the Lakers wrap up a three-game road swing at Lock Haven. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.