Boxscore

ERIE, Pa. – Don't count the Lakers out.

After erasing a 15-point deficit in the second half and forcing overtime, Mercyhurst College outlasted city-rival Gannon University to take a 68-64 victory in front of 1,815 fans at the Hammermill Center.

On a night when the Lakers earned the No. 5 ranking in the first NCAA II Atlantic Region poll, Mercyhurst needed a second-half surge to earn its sixth-straight contest and remain in first place of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division with a 14-3 overall mark, 5-0 in the division.

Meanwhile, Gannon falls on its home court for the second consecutive contest to move to 9-7 overall, 1-4 in the PSAC West.  It also marks the first time in the series history that Mercyhurst defeated Gannon in overtime after falling in the previous four overtime sessions.

Trailing 56-50 with 3:26 left in the second period, Mercyhurst went on a 6-0 run behind four points from Bill Weaver. A 43 percent free-throw shooter entering the game, Weaver iced a pair of free throws with 21 seconds to send the game into overtime.

In the extra session, Luis Leao posted eight points to lead the Laker comeback. Perhaps none of his points were bigger than his 3-pointer with 1:51 remaining that gave the Laker a 64-62 lead before connecting on a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to extend the Lakers advantage to 66-62.

After a Gannon jumper with 14 seconds left by Kelvin Agee, the Lakers broke a press and Shelton Jackson converted on the wide-open layup to seal Mercyhurst's seventh come-from-behind victory of the year and third in PSAC West play.

Leao and teammate Shelton Jackson scored a game-high 18 points for Mercyhurst, with Jackson adding a team-high 10 rebounds for the double-double. Gannon's Travis Brannen tallied 18 markers to lead four in double-digits for the Golden Knights.

Down by 15 in the first half, Mercyhurst used a 7-0 run to close out the opening stanza then heated up the second period with a 10-1 run, turning the tide for a 17-1 run to open the period.

The Lakers took the lead at 16:18 thanks to a pair of Jackson free throws. It was the Lakers first lead since 17:51 of the first half.

Then, both teams battled back-and-forth with intensity. Neither team could handle the ball well, with Gannon ending with 24 turnovers and the Lakers with 16.

Credit a stingy, hustling Laker defense for the second half turnaround as they held Gannon to just 36.4 percent from the field and got the Golden Knights into foul trouble early.

In the first half, Mercyhurst opened with a 5-0 run behind a 3-pointer by Ratner and a pair of free throws by Jackson. The Lakers would hold that lead until a Battle 3-pointer at 16:12 handed the Golden Knights their first lead of the contest. They then stretched their advantage to 11-5 after a 6-0 run in which Battle nailed two consecutive 3-pointers.

Mercyhurst would not regain the lead for the remainder of the half as a hot-shooting Gannon team pushed the floor and took advantage of a Laker team that went freezing cold from the floor. After Shelton Jackson's layup at 9:47, the Lakers did not hit a field goal for eight minutes until Ratner's layup at 1:41. That cold spell allowed Gannon to hit for a 14-2 run, extending their advantage to as many as 15 during that time.

However, the Lakers battled in the final minutes to go on a 7-2 run to close out the first half and cut the deficit to eight, 33-25. Ratner connected for five of those points, with Leao contributing two free throws.
The Lakers hit just 30.8 percent from the field in the opening stanza in comparison to Gannon's 55 percent. Both teams were perfect from the free-throw line, with Mercyhurst hitting 6-of-6 and Gannon knocking down 7-of-7.

Mercyhurst returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 29 when the Lakers host Indiana (Pa.) at 3 p.m. The Crimson Hawks currently rank seventh in the first NCAA II Atlantic Region poll.