ERIE, Pa. - Balance was the name of the game for the Mercyhurst men's basketball team on Monday night as
MiyKah McIntosh,
Trystan Pratapas,
Zach McIntire, and
Steve Cannady all recorded double-figures as the Lakers cruised past the visiting Roberts Wesleyan College by a final of 89-56 at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center in non-conference action.
The Redhawks got off to a quick start with a layup by DeMani Smith and a triple from
Armon Nasseri putting them in front 5-0 in the opening two minutes.
Nicholas Lang,
Joel Ufele, and McIntosh put together a 7-2 run over a 2:54 span to get even 7-7 with 14:43 remaining in the first. A three out of the hands of Zecaree Veiga made it 12-9, but
Andrew Seager came back down the floor and answered with a layup to trim it 12-11, 7:40 into the half. After a bucket by Cannady brought it 14-13 a turnover from Shane Fanning led to a three for McIntire to move the host ahead 16-14. However, 24-seconds later Amari Lee answered back with a shot from deep of his own to reclaim a slim 17-16 advantage. That sparked Mercyhurst as Lang found McIntosh for a three to make ti 19-17 which resulted in a 9-1 outburst finished by an "and one" by Ufele extending the lead to 25-18 at the 13:42 mark.
Reggie Clark slowed the momentum for a brief moment with a three pulling it to 25-21, however, free throws by
Cameron Gross and a tripled for Pratapas bookended an 8-0 charge to make the advantage 33-21 with 2:48 left. The Redhawks closed to within 36-28 on a pair of foul shots for Veiga, but McIntire had the last laugh delivering a triple out of the right-corner for the 39-28 advantage at the break.
A jumper for
Michael Bradley capped four straight by the home side to begin the second making the lead the largest of the game to that point at 43-28, 1:18 into the frame. With the Lakers ahead 43-30, Gross began a string a six of ten points in the paint that was finished off by a Pratapas three to push the advantage over 20, 53-21 with 13:55 remaining.
Lee, Nasseri, and Fanning kept the guests within shouting distance using a 6-2 run to make it 56-38. A Seager three-pointer extended the margin back to 60-38 still with 11 minutes to go. From that point on Mercyhurst just continued to put distance between the two teams as a jumper from Bradley push the gap to 30 at 81-51 and a long-range bomb by Pratapas made it 84-51 just under three to go.
Jared Fagan would knock home a triple and
Junior Oscar hit a layup in the final minute for the final score of 89-56.
The Lakers shot over 55% from the floor and held the Redhawks to just over 40%. Mercyhurst was dominated in the paint and off the bench outscoring RWC 40-16 and 45-16 respectively.
McIntosh and Pratapas led the team in scoring as both dropped 15. McIntire put in 11 and Cannady added 10. Ufele was the leading rebounder with six, while Seager and McIntire each chipped in five.
Veiga (12), Clark (12), and Fanning (10) paced the Redhawks offense. Nasseri hauled in a game-high eight boards.
Mercyhurst begins conference action this weekend as Millersville and Shepherd come calling on Saturday and Sunday with both games at 3pm.
