Boxscore

ERIE, Pa. – Senior guard Heiden Ratner established a new career-high for the second-straight day as his 31 points helped guide the Mercyhurst College men's basketball team to a 78-65 victory over Bloomsburg in the final Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover contest.

Ratner scored 24 of his game-high 31 points in the second half, helping the Lakers break a slim two-point halftime lead into a 17-point advantage with just over five minutes remaining.

With Bloomsburg down by five and threatening midway through the final stanza, Ratner nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to give Mercyhurst an eight-point lead, 54-46, with 10:41 remaining. From there, Ratner took control for the Lakers and scored 11 more markers in the next four minutes for a 68-51 lead. All told, Ratner erupted for 17 points in a little more than six minutes.

With the victory, the Lakers head into this Wednesday's PSAC West divisional opener on a high note after snapping a two-game winless streak to move to 9-3 on the year. Meanwhile, the Huskies head into PSAC East play on a two-game losing streak and fall to 4-8 on the year.

The Huskies almost cut the lead to single digits when Dontahe Jordan's layup cut the host's lead to 12, 68-56, but Mercyhurst again responded with a run when Bill Weaver converted on the old-fashioned 3-point play before Ratner also made good on the 3-point play with 2:34 left on the clock.

Bloomsburg made a charge in the final minutes with a 9-5 run of its own in which Jordan tallied four of his team-high 22 points for the Huskies, but it would not be enough. Jordan also posted a game-high 10 rebounds for the double-double. For the Lakers, Shelton Jackson joined Ratner in double-figures with 15 points.

In the first half, Bloomsburg kept the game close by shooting 48 percent from the field (12-of-25) while limiting the Lakers to just 39 percent (11-of-28), including 2-of-10 from behind the 3-point arc.

The Huskies maintained the lead for the first five minutes thanks to cold shooting by the Lakers but then fell behind by seven at 13:16. From there, the Huskies again took advantage of shooting woes by Mercyhurst to push a 7-0 run that knotted the game 15-15 thanks to a 3-pointer by Johnson.

The Huskies would hold that advantage and take a nine-point lead, 27-18, with 5:03 left in the first after 9-0 run that featured back-to-back 3-pointers by Lorenzo Christmas to start the run and back-to-back layups by Larry Webster to finish.

However, Mercyhurst used a 13-2 run of its own to close out the first half as five different Lakers scored, including five of Jackson's seven first-half points.

The Lakers return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Lock Haven for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff in the PSAC Western Division opener.

Notes:
Senior guard Heiden Ratner registered career highs in points (31) and field goals made (11).

Junior guard Jamal Turner set personal-bests in free throws (3) and free-throws attempted (7) while tying career-highs in points (7), field goals made(2) and 3-pointers attempted (1).

Senior forward Olivier Dupiton tied a career-high with four steals.

Freshman guard Andrew Rickard had a career day with points (7), rebounds (3), field goals made (2), field goals attempted (3) and free-throws made (2) and attempted (4).