ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst men's basketball team scored the game's final six points during its 72-69 victory over West Chester in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action on Saturday at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
Lorenzo Collier and
Durrell McDonald scored 15 points apiece for the Lakers (5-3, 3-2), who took the lead for good on a pair of McDonald free throws with 25 seconds left. DaJuan Dent added 12 points and
Malcolm Walters contributed 10.
Also for MU, Collier grabbed seven rebounds, McDonald made four steals and
H'ian Hale dished four assists.
The first half included seven lead changes as Mercyhurst enjoyed a 8-0 run to take a 20-15 lead before three straight WCU three-pointers helped the visiting Golden Rams stretch out a 12-point run to snag a 27-20 advantage.
West Chester (4-5, 3-2) took a six-point lead into halftime and eventually led 42-33 in the second half. Later, McDonald had nine points during a stretch in which the Lakers outscored WCU, 12-4, and left the hosts with a 64-60 edge.
The Rams then pulled ahead with a 9-2 stretch to take a 69-66 lead. From there, Dent made a layup off a tremendous feed from McDonald, who shed one defender before passing around another. That basket was the beginning of MU's game-closing six-point streak.
Mercyhurst held West Chester without a field goal on four attempts for the rest of the game. In the interim, McDonald hit his go-ahead freebies and then Walters made a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining.
As a team, the Lakers shot 24 of 60 from the field (40.0 percent), 5 of 17 from three-point territory (29.4) and 19 of 24 from the free-throw line (79.2). WCU's numbers were 19 of 46 (41.3), 8 of 23 (34.8) and 23 of 31 (74.2), respectively. The Rams shot 48.1 percent in the first half (13 of 27) before MU held them to 31.6 percent in the second (6 of 19).
Malik Jackson and Thomas White scored 15 points apiece for the Golden Rams. Jackson Hyland added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Mercyhurst outrebounded West Chester, 36-34.
The Lakers will return to competition Monday, Dec. 19, with a non-conference home game against Roberts Wesleyan.
