ERIE, Pa.- The Mercyhurst men's basketball team lost to #20 Bowie State, 94-93, Saturday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. Matt Lee scored 28 points, but it wasn't enough, as the Bulldogs escaped with a one-point non-conference victory to tip off the Mercyhurst Invitational.
 
The game saw several swings in momentum, as each team made runs to control the contest. The home team took a 77-63 lead on a Callon Dailey layup with 7:40 left. Bowie answered with a 7-0 run before Lee split two free throws with 5:31 to go. After the teams traded two free throws apiece, Darren Clark's jumper cut the deficit to 80-74. Andrew Rickard responded with a three for a nine-point edge with just over four minutes to play.
 
Jay Gavin hit a trey of his own on the next trip down and then Dameatric Scott followed with a layup. Bill Weaver made a free throw, but Scott came back with a three-pointer to make it 84-82 with 3:01 left. Gavin made a free throw to get within one and then Clark converted two more freebies to take a one-point advantage with 2:00 remaining.
 
Lee missed on the next possession and Scott connected from downtown again. Lee's trey with 52 seconds to play got the Lakers within 88-87. Bryan Wilson's lay-in was followed by Rickard splitting two free throws with 20 seconds on the clock. Gavin made two more free throws, his 12^th and 13^th of the day. A triple by Lee put Hurst down 92-91 with six seconds left, but Clark kept the pressure on by hitting two more free throw attempts.
 
Lee nailed two free throws of his own with two seconds left, and Julian Williams was stripped by Rickard on the inbounds, but Rickard's desperation heave from 30 feet fell short at the buzzer.
 
Lee came out firing, hit a jump shot and a three to go up 5-0 early. Weaver's layup was followed by another Lee two-pointer for a quick 9-2 edge. The Bulldogs responded with an 8-0 spurt to take the lead with 13:04 left.
 
Luis Leao's three-point play put Mercyhurst back ahead and the teams volleyed from there. A Travis Hyman dunk was answered by a Leao trey. Najee White made a jumper to give Bowie a 20-19 lead with 8:00 to go and the Bulldogs enjoyed a four-point lead a few minutes later. A three by Rickard and a layup by Dailey regained the Laker advantage.
 
A three by Lee tied the contest at 30 with 2:24 to play and then Rickard's trey put the home team up three. Clark came back with a triple of his own and then Lee closed the half with a layup just before the horn for a 37-35 Hurst lead.
 
In the second half, Lee kicked things off with another trey and two free throws. Leao had a three-point play and then Weaver's layup put the Lakers up 47-35 84 seconds in. The visitors answered with a 10-0 run to get back into the game, capped by a Hyman dunk. Steven Coleman hit a three on the next trip down, but Clark's trey kept the Bulldogs in it. Leao's lay-in put Hurst back ahead 56-52 with 13:25 left.
 
Clark converted a three-point play, but Paul Bilbo scored six straight Laker points to hold off Bowie. Lay-ins by Leao and Jonathan Ouegnin were followed by a Rickard trey for a 69-59 edge. Gavin made four free throws, but Leao and Rickard made consecutive threes for a 75-63 lead with 8:10 to play.
 
Lee finished with a career-high 28 on 9-14 shooting. He hit 5-8 three-pointers and 5-6 from the free throw line. Leao added 22 points on 9-12 shooting in 23 minutes. Rickard was next with 16 points, including five treys. Gavin led the Bulldogs with 26 points. Clark scored 22, while Hyman, White, and Scott each scored in double figures.
 
As a team, Hurst shot 55.2 percent (32-58) from the field, converting 13-23 (56.5 percent) of its triple tries. Bowie shot 50 percent (29-58) to go along with 31-34 free throw shooting.
 
Hurst hosts Washington Adventist tomorrow at 3 p.m. to wrap up the Mercyhurst Invitational.
 
For a box score of the Bowie-Mercyhurst game, please click here.