ERIE, Pa.- The Mercyhurst men's basketball team won, 77-69, over Slippery Rock Tuesday night at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) quarterfinal contest. The Lakers advance to play East Stroudsburg in the PSAC semifinals Friday, March 2.


 
Hurst trailed by as many as nine in the first half before rallying in the second half. After the Rock went up 40-36 with 15:55 to play, the Lakers went on a run that switched control of the game. The 28-10 run over the next ten minutes was enough for Mercyhurst to win just its second postseason game in program history.
 
Terrence Ingram began the spurt with a three-pointer and then Luis Leao made a jumper. Matt Lee followed with a trey to take a 44-40 edge. After a Devin Taylor bucket, Lee connected again. Torrance Timothy's jumper got the Rock within two before Bill Weaver made a layup with 11:38 left.
 
Jonathan Ouegnin threw down a lob from Lee and then Andrew Rickard answered a Rock basket with a layup of his own. Taylor scored and then Leao's jumper made it 54-48 with 8:03 remaining. 
 
Lee drained a triple to expand the advantage to 57-48 with 6:31 to go. Lee connected on another three after a Taylor hoop. Lee hit two free throws and then Christian Heine made a layup to put Hurst ahead 64-50 at the 4:03 mark.
 
The visitors made it interesting down the stretch, cutting the deficit to 68-63 with 1:52 to go, but the Lakers hit nine free throws after that point to hold off the charge.
 
Lee scored 19 points and dished out five assists, tying a career high. Leao recorded 18 points, while Weaver had 11 points and three steals. Ouegnin and Heine each scored nine points, while Ouegnin grabbed nine boards, blocked three shots, and made three steals. Taylor led the Rock with 18 points.
 
As a team, Hurst hit 25-58 (43.1 percent) from the field. SRU was 29-68 (42.6 percent) on its attempts. The hosts made 20-28 free throws, compared to 4-8 for the Rock. Mercyhurst forced 20 turnovers and enjoyed a 23-13 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
The Lakers (18-9) now advance to the conference semifinals, where they will play East Stroudsburg at West Chester on Friday, March 2. The Warriors upset top-seeded Kutztown on Tuesday. Regular season Western Division champion Indiana (Pa.) will play at three-seed West Chester on Friday. The winners of the semis will play in the title match on Saturday, March 3, at West Chester. It is Hurst's first appearance in the PSAC Final Four since joining the league prior to the 2008-09 campaign.
 
For a box score of the Slippery Rock-Mercyhurst game, please click here.