ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst men's basketball team won, 82-60, over Mansfield Wednesday night.
Jean Onana led the way for the Lakers, scoring a game-high 27 points in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center (MAC).
Mercyhurst took a 38-30 lead into the break and then put the game away in the second half with the help from their bench. The bench outscored Mansfield's, 49-18, in route to their tenth win of the season.
The Lakers shot 15-31 (48.4%) in the first half and held Mansfield to just 10-24, 15 of the 24 shots were three-point attempts. The Mountaineers were only able to connect on five, allowing Mercyhurst to extend their lead.
James Ewing and
Andy Hoying got the second half started by making back-to-back buckets to give the Lakers their largest lead of the night at 13, 43-30. Ewing drained a jumper, and Hoying banged home a three off a pass from
Gerrae Williams.
Mansfield would cut the lead to five with a little over 15 minutes to play until Mercyhurst put the game away for good on their next three possessions.
Kayode Ajenifuja made a jump shot that was followed by a
Sean Beins layup to increase the lead back to nine. An Onana three ball put the lead into double-digits for good at the 13:27 mark, Mercyhurst led, 56-44.
With 8:17 to play, the Lakers finished out the remaining minutes on a 14-6 surge. Onana scored nine of the 14, as Ewing made a layup and three free-throws rounded out the final minutes.
Onana's 27 points were two shy of his career-high. He went 9-15 from the field and 5-7 from downtown. His five three-point field goals was a career-high. Williams was the only other Laker in double figures with ten, as the Mercyhurst had a balanced scoring attack outside of Onana. Thomas Moore led the way for the Mountaineers, scoring 15 points.
Mercyhurst shot 48.4% (31-64) for the game and held Mansfield to 44.2% (19-43).
The win puts the Lakers at 10-5 overall and 7-3 in PSAC play. Mansfield falls to 6-8, 4-6 PSAC.
Mercyhurst will host Slippery Rock in a pivotal PSAC west matchup Saturday afternoon at the MAC. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
