Boxscore

ERIE, Pa. – Heiden Ratner and Shelton Jackson each scored in double-figures to guide Mercyhurst College in a 76-64 victory over Shippensburg University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference “crossover” contest. 

The victory is the fifth in a row for the Lakers as they improve to 8-2 on the year. Shippensburg falls to 6-4 overall. 

Head coach Gary Manchel won his 100th game as the Lakers' leader and is now seven wins away from becoming the all-time winningest coach in program history. 

Ratner tallied a game-high 19 points to lead Mercyhurst in scoring for the fifth-straight game and the seventh time this season while Jackson added 10 points to finish in double-digits for the second-straight contest and fourth in the last five games. 

Playing for the first time since a 72-69 victory over Urbana on Dec. 16, Mercyhurst shook off a sluggish start in the opening stanza for a 27-20 halftime advantage. 

The Red Raiders, who have not played since Dec. 13 in the Mercyhurst Invitational, led for a majority of the first half and held a five-point advantage after Lamar Jackson's 3-pointer with 16:06 remaining. 

However, the Lakers slowly chipped away at Ship and finally took the lead for good on a Stu Anglum layup with 11:20 on the clock. 

Mercyhurst opened the second half with better intensity and used a 13-2 run in the first four minutes to build a 40-22 lead. Ratner posted seven points during that stretch, including back-to-back jumpers before adding a 3-pointer. Jackson's dunk punctuated the run. 

The Lakers stretched the lead to as many as 23 points thanks to a 12-7 run that saw Elliot Engelmann and Jeremiah Wise hit a 3-pointer each while Nnamdi Nnadili added four tallies to give Mercyhurst a 52-29 lead with 13:21 remaining. Engelmann closed out the game with nine points. 

The Lakers enjoyed their largest advantage of the game with just over six minutes to play when Jordan Armstrong's tip-in gave Mercyhurst a 72-63 lead. Armstrong finished with nine points on the day. 

However, a resilient Shippensburg squad used an 11-0 run in the next three minutes to cut the Lakers' lead back under 20 points and close out the game on another 10-4 run for the game's final score. 

Daziah Miller and Jackson finished with 11 tallies each for Shippensburg. Miller scored six of his shared-team-high points in the final six minutes while Jackson added five during that stretch. 

The Red Raiders shot 37.3 percent from the floor (23-of-61) in comparison to the Lakers 47.3 percent (26-of-55). 

Next up for the Lakers is the second PSAC-mandated crossover contest when they will host Cheyney at 3 p.m. to close out the first crossover weekend. 

Notes:
Head coach Gary Manchel won his 100th game as the Lakers' leader and is now seven wins away from becoming the all-time winningest coach in program history.  He currently is fourth on the all-time list with a 100-77 record.  Karl Fogel is the program leader with a 106-106 record in eight seasons at the helm (1995-2003). 

Manchel is the fourth coach in Mercyhurst history reach the 100-win plateau behind Dick Fox (101-43 record from 1971-75, 76-78); Billy Kalbaugh (102-87 from 1981-88) and Karl Fogel (106-106 from 1995-2003).

Ratner led the team in scoring for the fifth-straight game becoming the first player to do so since Avi Fogel led the Lakers in scoring in the first five games of the 2006-07 season.