Boxscore

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. --Jordan Armstrong and Nnamdi Nnadili each scored in double-figures to help Mercyhurst to a season-sweep of Lock Haven with a 68-54 victory in front of 411 fans at Thomas Fieldhouse. 

The win moves Mercyhurst to 17-8 overall, 7-5 in PSAC West play while Lock Haven falls to 6-17 overall, 3-9 against teams from the PSAC West. 

The Lakers remain one game behind Clarion in the race to host a quarterfinal contest as one of four teams to earn a Western Division playoff berth and hold a half-game advantage over Gannon with the Golden Knights scheduled to take on first-place IUP at 7:30 p.m. Should Gannon lose, the Lakers will maintain sole possession of third-place in the PSAC West and set up an important showdown against Gannon at the Hammermill Center on Wednesday. 

Mercyhurst shot the ball well against Lock Haven, finishing at 51 percent for the game (26-of-51) while limiting the Bald Eagles to a 43.8 percent clip (21-of-48), including just 1-for-11 from 3-point range. 

Nnadili finished with a season- and game-high 18 points, draining 4-of-6 from behind the arc en route to a 6-of-9 performance from the floor and a perfect 2-for-2 at the charity stripe. 

Armstrong contributed 12 markers to round out the Lakers double-digit scorers. 

For Lock Haven, Eric Brennan paced the Bald Eagles as the long player in double-figures with 17 tallies.
The two squads battled in the opening minutes, trading baskets and playing well defensively. Neither team would hold a lead greater than three points until Mercyhurst's Elliot Engelmann drained a 3-pointer to give the Lakers a 16-10 advantage with 8:38 remaining in the first half. 

From there, it was all Mercyhurst and the Lakers would not trail again in the game. 

Mercyhurst closed out the first half with a 32-21 advantage after a 7-1 run in the last two minutes of the opening stanza. Nnadili provided the spark with six points in that stretch to help turn a slim 25-20 lead into double-digits entering intermission. 

In the second half, the Lakers continued their hot hand as Jeremiah Wise pounded a 3-ball to open the scoring and stretch the Mercyhurst advantage to 14 points. However, a resilient Lock Haven squad posted a 7-1 run of its own to cut the lead to single digits, 37-28. 

A layup by Heiden Ratner pushed the lead back to 11 before the Brennan countered with a jumper to dip LHU's deficit to single-digits for the last time in the contest. 

Thanks to the Lakers second-highest shooting output on the year, Mercyhurst stretched its lead to as many as 17 on three occasions in the contest before LHU's 3-pointer in its last possession provided the final margin.

The Lakers defense helped to power Mercyhurst to just its second road win in PSAC West play and avenge an ugly loss at Lock Haven a year ago. The Lakers forced 19 Lock Haven turnovers and stole the ball 10 times while blocking four shots. 

Notes: 
The Lakers recorded their first season sweep of a PSAC opponent since joining the league in 2008-09.
With its 17 wins, Mercyhurst has posted its best record since the 2006-07 season when the Lakers advanced to the GLIAC semifinals and finished with a 20-13 overall mark. 

This is the third time that the Lakers held a PSAC West opponent to one 3-pointer as Mercyhurst also held California and Gannon to just one 3-pointer. In the last meeting against the Bald Eagles, LHU shot 7-of-23 from behind the arc. 

The Lakers have now won two in a row, marking the fifth time this season that Mercyhurst has recorded consecutive victories.