CALIFORNIA, Pa.- The Mercyhurst men's basketball team won, 82-78, in overtime at California (Pa.) Saturday evening. Bill Weaver's three-point play in the final minute helped the Lakers to a fifth straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division victory.
 
Hurst led for much of the game, but was unable to put the Vulcans away. Back-to-back three-pointers by Tynell Fortune-the first threes of the night for Cal-made it 66-65 Lakers with 2:24 left. A steal by Travon Vann set up a pair of free throw attempts, which Vann split, tying the contest with just over two minutes to go.
 
Fortune got to the line with 1:09 remaining, connecting on both tries to give the hosts a two-point lead. The teams traded misses and Coach Gary Manchel called timeout with 33 seconds to play. Matt Lee lobbed a pass to a cutting Luis Leao, making his return from injury, who laid the ball in to tie the match at 68 with 25 seconds. Steven Coleman made a stellar defensive play on California's last attempt, sending the game to overtime.
 
Weaver got Hurst going in the extra period with a layup on the Lakers' first trip down. A Leao trey made it 73-68 with 2:58 left. Cal scored, but Weaver answered with a lay-in to go back up five. Keith Lowe made two free throws with just over two minutes remaining and then Leao split two tries on the other end.
 
Chad Tipton hit a three, cutting the gap to 76-75 with 1:38 to play. Quentin Harding made a free throw to tie the score, but Weaver scored inside and converted his free throw with one minute showing on the clock. After a Steve Swiech layup, Lee missed a jumper, but Weaver was there to grab the rebound. He pitched to Andrew Rickard, who was fouled and calmly drained both free throw tries.
 
The Mercyhurst defense hounded Cal into a turnover on the next possession and Coleman hit a free throw to ice the game with one second to go.
 
With the win, Hurst improved to 13-5 overall and 11-3 in the conference. It is alone in second place in the Western Division, two games ahead of Slippery Rock and Clarion. Cal fell to 11-9 overall and 8-6 in the league.
 
Swiech scored first to give the home team a 2-0 edge, but Weaver's three-point play put Hurst ahead in the first 80 seconds. Five points from Lowe gave the Vulcans an early 9-3 lead, but a bucket by Leao and a triple by Rickard quickly got Hurst going.
 
Lee took over from there, hitting four three-pointers in a 2:10 span to put his team ahead 20-15 with 12:30 left in the first frame. Weaver continued the hot shooting with a basket to go up seven shortly after.
 
A Coleman layup gave Hurst a 30-21 led with 7:50 remaining, but California kept battling, hitting three free throws to make it 30-24. Lee answered that with another trey and a jumper. The hosts got baskets from Vann and Tipton to get within 35-31 with 2:16 left. Weaver's jumper was followed by a Jeremy Posey dunk to close the half with the visitors up 39-36.
 
In the second half, Jamal Turner's lay-in started the Laker output. Cal responded though, as a Lowe bucket put the Vulcans ahead 42-41 with 16:35 to go. They maintained the edge for a few minutes before Leao hit a jump shot to even the score at 45.
 
Neither team pulled away midway through the half, but Leao made two free throw and then converted a three-point effort to go ahead 56-52 with 8:29 left. Baskets by Weaver and Lee made it an eight-point margin a minute later, but Cal kept coming. Lowe made a jumper and Harding connected on two free throw tries. Coleman made 3-4 free throws and Lowe split a pair to make it 63-59, leading to Fortune's success from long range.
 
Lee finished with 21 points on 5-7 three-point shooting. Weaver totaled 18 points and eight rebounds, while Leao added 15 points and five boards. Keith Lowe led three Vulcans in double figures with 15 points.
 
As a team, Hurst hit 29-68 shots from the field and Cal made 27-56 tries. The Lakers were 8-16 from downtown, compared to 3-13 for the hosts.
 
It was the Lakers' first OT contest of the season. Manchel continued his success in overtime, improving to 11-5 in 45-minute matches in his tenure at Mercyhurst.
 
The Lakers come back to Erie for a PSAC West contest against Lock Haven Wednesday, February 1. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the MAC.
 
For a box score of the Mercyhurst-California game, please click here.