Boxscore

ERIE, Pa. – Behind three players in double-figures, Mercyhurst withstood a late rally from Roberts Wesleyan to secure a 66-63 victory on Tuesday night. 

Jeremiah Wise scored a team-high 16 points while Elliot Engelmann and Ryann Bradford each contributed 11 markers. 

Mercyhurst (3-1) never led in the first half and trailed by as many seven points in an opening stanza that featured fast-paced play from Roberts Wesleyan (4-3). The Raiders took possession on the opening tip and quickly converted a layup to surprise the Lakers and gain momentum, gradually building an 11-4 advantage at the 15:23 mark. However, Mercyhurst was able to scratch back and knot the game at 19-19 thanks to a 13-8 run fueled by five points from Wise. 

From there, the Lakers were able to hang tough, tying the score once again with 8:35 remaining in the first half. But, strong defense from Roberts Wesleyan that forced 10 Mercyhurst's 12 turnovers in the first half and a hot-hand from floor kept the Raiders in control as they stretched their lead back to six points with just under four minutes to play. The Lakers closed out the half strong on a 9-4 run thanks to another five points from Wise on a jumper and 3-pointer and entered halftime trailing for the first time this year, 36-25. 

After shooting 53.8 (14-of-26) percent from the floor in the first half, the Red Raiders cooled to 33.3 percent (9-of-27) but a stingy Laker defense forced Roberts Wesleyan to commit 12 costly turnovers, including two in the final two 1:13 when they were down by just three points, 65-62. 

Meanwhile, Mercyhurst found success at the charity stripe on the night, converting 14-of-19 on the night (73.7 percent) to aid in the comeback effort, including Christian Cornelius's made free-throw at 15:41 to tie the game at 46-46. 

Bradford added another free-throw to make it 47-46, then posted a layup with 13:21 left to give the Lakers a 3-point lead which would eventually stretch into an eight-point spread, the largest lead for either team, thanks to another 3-pointer by Wise with just over 10 minutes left to play. 

However, a scrappy Roberts Wesleyan squad cut the Lakers lead to one with just over two minutes to play and with 15 seconds remaining, Wise went to the charity stripe where he connected on the front end of a 1-and-1 to give the Lakers a 66-63 advantage. RWC's Mitchell Fraser missed a 3-pointer as time expired to halt a comeback attempt for the Raiders. 

Jordan Heath led all scorers with 17 points.

Next up for the Lakers is a road game against Urbana on Dec. 2 at 8 p.m.