WEST LIBERTY, WV – The Mercyhurst men's basketball team fought back from down eleven, 64-53, with 4:29 to play, but came up short in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament Atlantic Region First Round against Fairmont St. Juniors, Jean Onana and Damon Jones each posted 11 points to lead the Lakers in scoring.

It wasn't the way Mercyhurst wanted to start out their first NCAA Tournament appearance as a trap defense from the Fighting Falcons pressured Gerrae Williams into a three that missed everything on the opening possession. On the next two possessions, the Lakers turned the ball over and fell behind, 3-0.

Callon Dailey settled the nerves, knocking down his only three of the game to knot the game at three. Jones would come off the bench to drain a jumper the following Lakers possession to give Mercyhurst their first lead of the game, 5-3.

With Mercyhurst trailing by four at the 13:34 mark, a 5-0 spurt put the Lakers back ahead by one, 12-11. Jones drained to free-throws to pull them within two before Onana drained one of his three three's to give the Lakers the lead.

Mercyhurst opened their largest lead of the game at the 10:41 mark. With the game tied at 13, James Ewing made two free-throws, while a steal by Paris Bennett led to layup by Bennett on the other end, giving Mercyhurst a 17-13 lead.

After Fairmont St. regained the lead with seven minutes to play in the first half, Mercyhurst would claw their way back to tie the game going into halftime. The Lakers were looking to take a three point deficit into the break before Sean Beins knocked down a three at the buzzer to send both teams into the locker room tied at 31.

In the second half, Mercyhurst would only lead one time early in the period. Fairmont State's Jamel Morris gave the Falcons a three point, 34-31, but the Lakers answered with another 5-0 spurt to regain the lead, 36-34. Andy Hoying connected on a jumper, followed by a Terrence Ingram three from the top of the key.

Jones converted an and-one with 13:08 on the clock to tie the game for the ninth time. From there, it was all the Fighting Falcons, as they opened up an 11 point lead with 4:29 remaining. Mercyhurst wouldn't quite, going on a 10-2 run to close within three, 66-63, with 1:54 to play. The Lakers would have a chance to tie again with 15 seconds on the clock and possession, Onana took a contested three that fell short. Thomas Wimbush converted to free-throws with four seconds remaining to secure the victory and advance to the Second Round tomorrow against (1) West Liberty.

The Lakers held a slight rebounding advantage in the game, 34-33, while Fairmont State finished with a better shooting percentage from the field, 42.2% (19-45) – 39.3% (22-56). Mercyhurst sent the Fighting Falcons to the line 28 times, where they converted 24 – (85.7%). The Lakers finished 13-of-19 from the charity stripe, (68.4%).Along with Onana and Jones, Callon Dailey ended his career as a Laker scoring 10 points on 4-of-12 from the field. Ewing posted eight points and seven rebounds. Leading scorer, Nick Harney, scored a game-high 26 points to pace Fairmont State.

The Lakers end the 2014-15 season with a 20-9 overall record.