LOCK HAVEN, Pa. –Tied at 67-67, Lock Haven's Christian Warren sank a 3-pointer in front of the Bald Eagles bench with one second remaining to lift Lock Haven to a 70-67 come-from-behind victory over Mercyhurst in front of 500 fans at Thomas Fieldhouse.
The win moves Lock Haven to 3-14 overall, 1-3 in the PSAC West. Mercyhurst moves to 13-4 overall, 1-3 in the Western Division.
The Lakers never trailed in the contest until a layup by Kelvin McLean with 14 seconds remaining made the score 67-66 and closed a 12-point deficit for the home-standing Bald Eagles.
With six seconds left and the score still tied, Lock Haven's Jarrell Spence fouled
Brian McTear as he drove toward the basket, sending McTear to the free-throw line for the double-bonus.
What had been a sleepy crowd for much of the afternoon quickly came to life with its newfound lead as McTear missed his first attempt. The senior came back and connected on the second, knotting the score at 67-67.
Then, the Bald Eagles inbounded the ball and quickly called a timeout with three seconds remaining, setting up Warren's desperation attempt that found its way to the net for the game's final score.
Mercyhurst went into the second half with a six-point advantage but had leads of as many as 17 points thanks to an 11-minute stretch that saw the Lakers connect on 10 straight field-goal attempts, including five-straight 3-pointers for a 38-26 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the opening stanza.
The Lakers sank 15-of-24 field goals in the first half, including 9-of-17 from long-distance, and finished the game shooting an even 50 percent from the field (23-of-46). However, the Bald Eagles outscored the Lakers 38-26 in the second half and Mercyhurst hit just 1-of-8 from 3-point range.
Four players scored in double figures for the Lakers, led by a team-high 18 points from
Jordan Armstrong, who hit 6-of-8 from the floor and was 6-of-7 from the charity stripe. The Lakers also added 13 points each from
Jeremiah Wise and
Nnamdi Nnadili.
Elliot Engelmann also added 12 tallies for Mercyhurst.
Billy Arre paced Lock Haven with a game-high 20 points while Christian Warren added 13 markers and Andres Carpio chipped in 10 tallies.
Next up for Mercyhurst is a three-game homestand, beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 28 with Clarion at 7:30 p.m. The Lakers will then host California on Saturday, Jan. 31 before the clash with cross-town rival Gannon on Wednesday, February 4th.