ERIE, Pa.- The Mercyhurst men's basketball team won, 84-73, over Kutztown Saturday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. Luis Leao scored 23 points in his season debut to help the Lakers to a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) victory.


 
Devon McBride opened scoring in the second half, making a layup and a triple in the first minute. Edwards capped a 7-0 spurt with a jumper for a 44-37 Bear lead. Matt Lee hit a trey to cut the deficit to four with 17:24 left. Steven Coleman made a free throw and then a layup to get the Lakers within three midway through the frame. Andrew Rickard came through with the first of several key triples, tying the game at 47 with 12:53 to go.
 
Lee gave the home team the lead with a three 90 seconds later and then Rickard connected from long range again for a 53-49 Laker advantage. Hurst could not put the Bears away, but Kutztown never got closer the rest of the contest.
 
A three-point play by Bill Weaver gave Mercyhurst a 58-51 lead with 8:48 to play. Eric Brennan made four straight free throws and a layup to make it 60-57, but Weaver came back with another three-point play. Rickard hit his third three of the half shortly thereafter to put Hurst up nine.
 
After a Leao lay-in put the home team up 72-63, the Bears answered with a 6-0 run capped by a Micah Fraction layup with 2:30 left. Dailey's layup and two Leao free throws kept the Lakers ahead five in the final minutes. Fraction hit two free throws, but Leao's layup on the other end put Hurst up 78-73 with 1:28 to play. Callon Dailey sent the home crowd happy with a breakaway dunk to cap things at the 40-second mark.
 
The visitors took an early 6-1 lead in the first two minutes before Lee got Hurst going with a trey. Dailey followed with a jumper to tie the action with 17:01 left. Kutztown managed a small lead for several minutes before Coleman hit two free throws for a 17-16 Mercyhurst edge.
 
The teams stayed close the rest of the half. Nate Edwards made a jump shot for a 23-19 KU lead with 9:04 remaining. Freshman Arnis Libazs had a layup to even the score at 27 with 4:55 left and a steal and reverse dunk by Jonathan Ouegnin followed for a two-point Laker advantage.
 
McBride's tip-in tied the contest at 32, but Leao responded with a tree-pointer in the final two minutes. Two Jamal Turner free throws and a McBride lay-in left the match tied at 37 at the break.
 
Leao made 7-12 shots and 8-10 free throws in his first game back from injury. He grabbed five boards in the win. Rickard recorded 15 points and five rebounds, hitting 3-6 three-pointers. Lee was next with 11 points, while Dailey and Weaver each contributed nine points. Turner had nine assists and just one turnover.
 
As a team, Hurst hit 45.8 percent of its shots. The Lakers converted 22-28 free throw tries. The difference came downtown and on the bench. The home team nailed 8-24 treys and held KU to 2-14 shooting from deep, while Hurst had a 33-0 advantage in bench points.
 
Five Bears scored in double figures, with McBride totaling 20 points. Brooks recorded 14 points and 14 boards in the loss.
 
The Lakers host East Stroudsburg in a 3 p.m. contest tomorrow. The MAC is the site for the PSAC game.
 
For a box score of the Kutztown-Mercyhurst game, please click here.