ERIE, Pa.- The Mercyhurst men's basketball team will take on California (Pa.) Saturday, February 18, at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. tip-off.


 
Live stats will be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/hurst/mbball/scoreboard.aspx.
A live America One broadcast will be available at http://www.b2livetv.com/partner_members.asp?id=16.
 
Hurst was ranked 10^th in the first NCAA Atlantic Region rankings, released on February 15. IUP is the only PSAC program tabbed in the top eight of the rankings.
 
The Lakers sport a 16-7 overall mark and a 14-5 PSAC record. They won, 68-65, at Gannon on February 15. Hurst held the Golden Knights to 31.7 percent shooting from the field, while Matt Lee scored 17 points on five three-pointers. It gave Coach Gary Manchel's group its first season sweep of GU since the 2006-07 campaign.
 
California enters Saturday with a 14-11 record and an 11-8 conference mark. It dropped a 57-51 decision at Slippery Rock on February 15. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak that featured a 65-54 victory over #13 Indiana (Pa.) on February 8.
 
On January 28, Mercyhurst won, 82-78 in overtime, at Cal. Lee led with 21 points on 8-12 shooting, while Bill Weaver recorded 18 points and eight boards. Keith Lowe paced the Vulcans with 15 points and five assists.
 
Lee is scoring 15.8 points per game, having hit a team-high 63 treys this year. Luis Leao is next with 15.6 points and 5.3 rebounds a contest. The Lakers have one of the most efficient offenses in the region, pacing the PSAC in assists (16.9), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2), and turnover margin (+3.7). They are also draining 7.8 treys per game-tops in the conference.
 
Steve Swiech leads Cal with 11.4 points and 6.2 boards per game. Chad Tipton is the other Vulcan scoring double figures at 10.3 points-he has made 54 threes this season. California is second in the conference in field goal percentage defense at 39.9 percent. It also ranks third in the PSAC in rebounding margin at +5.0 per game.

With a win Saturday, the Lakers will clinch a spot in the PSAC Tournament. With a win and a Slippery Rock loss at IUP, Hurst will clinch home-court advantage in the first round of the conference tournament.
 
For game notes, please click here.