ERIE, Pa.- The Mercyhurst men's basketball team lost, 68-61, to Shippensburg Friday night at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. Andrew Rickard led the Lakers with 21 points off the bench in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover defeat.
 
The Raiders took a 30-24 halftime lead and the Lakers could not get any closer than six in the final six minutes of the game as SU controlled the stretch run. A three-point play by Rickard with 7:38 left made it 52-48 Ship, but free throws by Dylan Edgar and a breakaway layup by Craig Van Scyoc quickly put the visitors back up eight points.
 
Hurst won the opening tip and Matt Lee threw ahead to Steven Coleman for a dunk to begin the action. Weaver's layup made it 4-0 Lakers, but that proved to be the home team's largest lead of the night. Jordan Stasyszyn scored four points for Ship and then two Reggie Charles lay-ins put the Raiders up 10-9 with 15:11 to go.
 
Lee tied the match at 12 with a trey a few minutes later, but Van Scyoc came back with a three of his own and then Stasyszyn's layup made it 17-12 SU. Jumpers by Lee and Rickard kept Mercyhurst in it, but Will Royal scored four straight points for the Raiders for a 26-19 advantage with 6:59 left in the first half.
 
Dane Lauber's jumper gave Ship a 29-19 lead with three minutes to play before Bill Weaver's three-point play gave Hurst a boost. Callon Dailey's layup cut the deficit to 30-24 with 1:54 left and the score remained there for the rest of the frame.
 
Stasyszyn hit a trey early in the second half to expand the Raider edge, but another three-point play by Weaver got the home team with six. Weaver followed with a left-handed dunk at the 17:48 mark to make it 35-31, but SU continued to control the action. A three-point play by Van Scyoc made it 38-31 before the Lakers put together a string of solid basketball to get close.
 
A Rickard lay-in was followed by Coleman and Paul Bilbo scoring to get within three points. Rickard then hit a jumper with 13:44 remaining to get down 42-39, but Van Scyoc responded with a layup and Charles converted a three-point play to pull away again.
 
Rickard scored a game-high 21 on 7-13 shooting in 29 minutes. Weaver was next with 16 points and eight boards, seven of them offensive. Stasyszyn led the Raiders with 16 points on 7-11 shooting and Royal added 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
 
As a team, Hurst hit 24-66 (36.4 percent) from the field, while Ship hit 52.9 percent (27-51) of its attempts.
 
Mercyhurst dropped to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the PSAC. SU is now 6-7 overall and 3-4 in league play. Hurst returns to the court tomorrow night. It hosts Cheyney at 7:30 p.m. in the final PSAC crossover contest of the season.
 
For a complete box score of the Shippensburg-Mercyhurst game, please click here.