Men's Basketball | 1/6/2015 10:36:00 AM

ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst men's basketball team will host Mansfield in the team's final Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover. The Lakers will face off against the Mountaineers Wednesday, January 7 at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center (MAC). Tipoff is scheduled 7:30 p.m.

Mercyhurst is coming off a weekend split against two PSAC east opponents. The Lakers traveled to Shippensburg Saturday, January 3, to defeat the Raiders, 71-61. With a quick turnaround, Mercyhurst faced off against one of the easts elite at Kutztown. The Golden Bears caused the Laker offense into some struggles, scoring their lowest output of the season with 43 points which helped Kutztown earn a ten point victory, 53-43. Mercyhurst finds themselves sitting in fourth in the west behind league leading Gannon, followed by Slippery Rock and Indiana (Pa.). The Lakers are now third in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 65.0 points per game, and are averaging 67.0 points per game on the offense end.

Mansfield enters Wednesday night's game third in the east behind East Stroudsburg and Kutztown with a 6-7 overall record and a 4-5 conference mark. The Mountaineers are coming off a weekend sweep, beating two western division opponents. They went on to defeat one of the league's best at home Saturday, taking down Slippery Rock, 82-72. Mansfield came back out the next afternoon and edged Edinboro, 66-64. The Mountaineers come in averaging 72.5 points per contest and are third in the conference in shooting percentage, averaging 47.5 % from the field. Forward Charles Pemberton leads Mansfield in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per outing.