Boxscore

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Heiden Ratner tallied a game-high 22 points and Luis Leao added a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds to lift Mercyhurst College to a 63-53 come-from-behind victory over Nyack University at the Wolf's Bus Lines Classic hosted by Shippensburg University.

Mercyhurst improves to 2-0 on the year while Nyack moves to 0-4.  For their efforts, Ratner was named the tournament's MVP and Leao also found a spot on the all-tournament team.

Trailing 29-26 at the half after a cold-shooting first stanza, the Lakers came out of the locker rooms and blistered the net. Mercyhurst went on 19-3 run in the first 10 minutes of the second half to turn a deficit into a 13-point advantage and never let Nyack get any closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Seven different Lakers scored in the run that was started by Olivier Dupiton's jumper at 18:21 that cut Nyack's lead to one, 29-28. Ratner added a three-pointer at 16:08 to snap a scoring drought of just over two minutes for the Lakers and knot the game at 31-31. Leao added a jumper in the unit's next possession and Ratner stretched the lead to 35-31 with a layup after he picked the ball from Nyack's David Cerant.

The teams would trade places at the charity stripe in the next few minutes as Dupiton sank both of his efforts at 13:41 to give the Lakers a six-point advantage, 38-32. Jonathan Ouegnin added a layup just over a minute later to stretch the margin to 40-32 before Jackson added a free throw and Bill Weaver's 2-for-2 effort from the foul line gave the Lakers their first double-digit lead of the game. Ratner's layup at 9:53 provided the Lakers largest margin which they would equal again with just over five minutes left to play on a pair of free throws by Ratner.

Neither team shot exceptionally well from the floor for the game as both finished under 38 percent. Nyack shot just 25 percent from the floor in the second half to finish the game at 34.6 percent (18-52) and were 10-of-12 from the charity stripe. The Lakers hit 37 percent from the floor (20-of-54) but enjoyed a nine-point advantage at the charity stripe.

Mercyhurst also enjoyed a sizeable advantage on the glass as the Lakers outrebounded Nyack by a 42-30 margin, helping the team to a 28-12 advantage in paint points.

The Lakers are next in action on Saturday, Nov. 27 when they host Lake Erie in the home-opener. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.

For fans planning on attending the home-opener, please be advised that parking will be limited due to an NCAA Division II Second Round football game on the Mercyhurst campus beginning at 12 noon.