ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University men's basketball team raced out to a 14-2 lead over the first four minutes and never looked back en route to a 72-59 victory over PSAC Eastern Division rival, West Chester, at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center on Tuesday night. The win was the sixth consecutive victory for the Lakers, who improved to 7-3 overall and 4-1 in the PSAC West. The Golden Rams fell to 3-6 and 2-3 in the PSAC East.

The Lakers, sparked by junior Damon Jones and senior James Ewing, led 43-30 at halftime. Jones had 11 points in the first half on 4-of-4 shooting while Ewing was 3-of-3 from the field and 3-of-4 from the line for nine points in the opening twenty minutes. Mercyhurst shot 61.5% from the floor in the first half, including converting 12 of its first 15 shots.

After West Chester's Eric Frans gave the visitors a 2-0 lead on its first possession, the Lakers went on a 14-0 run to take a 14-2 lead with 16:01 left in the first half. Jones came off the bench to score five points during the spurt while Ewing chipped in with four. Senior Terrance Ingram hit a three-pointer and senior Callon Dailey added the other basket during the streak.

The 2-0 lead by the Golden Rams marked the only time they would lead in the contest as Mercyhurst would extend its lead to as many as 17 points on two separate occasions in the first half.

Frans stopped the bleeding, momentarily, with a driving layup to end the 14-0 run by the Lakers. However, junior Sean Beins came off the bench to knock home a pair of shots, sandwiched around a three-pointer by West Chester's Avery Brown, to give the Lakers an 18-7 advantage at the first media timeout.

Jones continued his torrid start to the contest with five consecutive points after the timeout to extend the advantage to 23-10 with 12:48 left in the first half. Mercyhurst then got the lead up to 17 points, at 36-19, on a pair of free throws by junior Jean Onana with 6:49 remaining. Cory Blake cut the lead to 15 with a pair of foul shots before Ewing regained the 17-point margin with two free throws to get the lead back up to 17 with 5:12 remaining.

West Chester cut the lead to eight with 1:23 left after a 9-0 run before the Lakers countered with the final five points of the first half to take a 13-point lead into intermission. 

Mercyhurst got the lead back up to 17 at the outset of the second half, thanks to a free throw from junior Gerrae Williams and a three-point play from Ingram. Again, the Golden Rams would not go quietly, cutting the deficit to as few as seven points, at 50-43, with a 13-3 run over the next seven minutes.

But, seven points would be as close as the visitors would get. Mercyhurst got a layup from Beins and then a pair of foul shots from the junior forward to extend the lead back up to 54-43 with 8:46 remaining. West Chester cut it to 56-47 with 7:06 left, but the Lakers closed out the contest by outscoring the Golden Rams, 16-12, over the closing minutes of regulation.

Jones led the way with 15 points off the bench, hitting 5-of-9 shots from the field and 4-of-7 at the foul line. Ewing recorded his second double-double of the season by scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He was 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-4 at the line in his 31 minutes of action. Junior Andy Hoying also reached double figures with 10 points in the win.

West Chester's Cory Blake led all scorers with 16 and was the only Golden Ram in double figures.

Mercyhurst outrebounded West Chester by a slim 32-30 margin but did force the Golden Rams into 24 turnovers on the night.

The Lakers will be back in action on Wednesday night when it hosts Cheyney at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.