ERIE, Pa—The Mercyhurst men's basketball team will host the Gannon Golden Knights as they kick off the Porreco Pride of Erie Cup Series on Wednesday.
 
Who: Gannon (7-10, 5-6) at Mercyhurst (11-4, 6-4)
When: Wednesday January 23, 2019 (7:30 PM)
Where: Erie, Pa (Mercyhurst Athletic Center)
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Previous Matchup

• Nelson Maxwell poured in 31 points and made four steals to lead the Mercyhurst men's basketball team to a 74-69 win over PSAC opponent Pittsburgh-Johnstown on Monday at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.  Jason Massey added 15 points and six rebounds while MiyKah McIntosh totaled 12 points for the Lakers (11-4, 6-4).
• The Lakers faced a 22-10 deficit in the first half before getting back into the contest with an 11-2 run. McIntosh had three 3-pointers during that momentum-shifting stretch. Mercyhurst faced a 32-28 halftime deficit. MU took the lead in the second half on a 10-0 run, starting with three straight free throws by McIntosh to tie the game at 36-all. Then, Maxwell hit a 3 and Massey made a pair of 2-pointers to give Mercyhurst a 43-36 advantage. The Lakers led the rest of the way after that.

Keys for Mercyhurst

• The Lakers are coming into contest hot of a three game win streak after the win against UPJ on Monday. MU will look to make it four come Wednesday night.
• For Mercyhurst, three players are scoring in double digits including leading scorer Massey averaging 16.9 which puts him 14th in the conference in scoring and also second in the PSAC in field goal percentage (.582).
• Maxwell is the second leading scorer with 11.7 per game coming off  his 31 point performance on Monday against UPJ. Which leaves the final scorer in being McIntosh (10.5)
• Patrick Smith not only leads the team in rebounds but also ranks 7th in the conference averaging 8.3 per game. Edvaldo Ferreira also among the top in the conference in blocks (1.3) while Derrick Ellis Jr. sits at 11th in assists (3.9)
• As a team, MU is ranked first in the conference and third in the nation just allowing 62.1 points per game. The Lakers also rank first in three point field goal percentage (.409), fourth in three point field goals made (9.2), fourth in field goal percentage (.475) and first in scoring margin (15.3)

Keys for Gannon

• Gannon is rolling as well coming off a home win against Clarion, 66-48 giving them its fourth straight victory and lowest points given up all season.  The other wins that allowed the Golden Knights to start streaking was against Pitt-Johnstown, 64-61 (Jan. 9), Seton Hill, 69-61 (Jan. 12) and Edinboro, 87-79 (Jan. 16) which was the second highest points scored for GU all season with its season high (90) in its first game of the season against Wheeling Jesuit.
• The Golden Knights lone double-scorer is Daryl Porter averaging 11.8 per game with Victor Olawoye the next highest scorer (9.8). Kevin Dodds leads GU in rebounds recording 5.8 per game

Against Gannon

• GU leads the all-time series against Mercyhurst, 54-22.  Gannon swept the Lakers last year in both meetings with a 62-51 victory (Jan. 17) and the other 58-50 (Feb. 17).  The Lakers will look to earn the first game of the Porreco Pride of Erie game on Wednesday.

Next Up: The Lakers will travel to California (Pa.) on January 26th as they look to earn another PSAC road win.