KUTZTOWN, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University men's basketball team shot just 27.6% from the floor and suffered a 53-43 loss at Kutztown University on Sunday afternoon. The loss dropped the Lakers to 9-5 overall and 6-3 in the PSAC Western Division. The Golden Bears improved to 10-5 overall and 7-2 in the Eastern Division.

Mercyhurst shot 16-of-58 from the field on Sunday afternoon with nine of its field goals coming from juniors Sean Beins and Jean Onana. Onana also made all three of Mercyhurst's three pointers in 16 total attempts (18.8%). The Lakers' five starters - seniors Callon Dailey, Terrance Ingram, and James Ewing, redshirt junior Gerrae Williams, and junior Andy Hoying - combined to score just ten points on 4-of-20 from the field.

The Lakers had one lead in the contest, a 3-2 advantage after Onana hit a triple with 15:23 left in the first half. When Kutztown's Tynell Fortune hit a jumper just 15 seconds later, it marked the beginning of an 8-0 run to give the Golden Bears a 10-3 lead and the hosts never looked back.

The Golden Bears saw their lead balloon to as many as 12 points in the first half, which included their halftime lead of 28-16. Mercyhurst made just seven field goals in 29 attempts (24.1%) in the opening twenty minutes and was outrebounded 24-15 by the Golden Bears in the first half. Onana led the way with six points at halftime while junior Kayode Ajenifuja chipped in with four off of the Laker bench.

Kutztown extended its lead to 34-18 when Anthony Selby put back a rebound with 14:16 remaining. The Lakers did not reach the 20-point mark until Beins scored with 14:07 left and did not reach the 30-point plateau until Williams hit a pair of free throws with 6:48 left in regulation.

Despite the shooting woes, the Lakers chipped away at the Kutztown lead, and got to within nine points at 47-38 with 3:23 left in regulation when Beins laid one up and in. The teams, however, exchanged baskets down the stretch with Mercyhurst getting as close as seven points, 50-43, with 52 seconds left after Beins connected on a pair of foul shots. The Golden Bears gave the Lakers chances in the closing seconds after missing 3-of-6 foul shots, but the poor shooting continued as Mercyhurst could not score the rest of the way.

Onana led Mercyhurst with 13 points on just 5-of-15 shooting while Beins had 12 on 4-of-11 from the field. Beins also pulled down a team-high six rebounds as Mercyhurst was outrebounded 45-29 for the contest.

Mercyhurst had no answer for Kutztown's Josh Johnson, who scored a game-high 18 points on 8-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds on the afternoon. Fortune had 11 to join Johnson as the only Kutztown players in double figures.

The Lakers will return to the Mercyhurst Athletic Center on Wednesday, January 7 when they host Mansfield University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.