ERIE, Pa.—The Mercyhurst men's basketball team will host Clarion in a PSAC matchup on Wednesday and will look for its eighth straight victory.
Who: Clarion (4-14, 2-12) at Mercyhurst (15-4, 10-4)
Where: Erie, Pa (MAC)
When: Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2019
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Previous Game Recap
- Coming out of the half, IUP would go on a 7-2 run making the score 38-36 Lakers. A few possessions later, Dante Lombardi would hit a three pointer making it 44-43 giving IUP its first lead since the 13:20 mark of the first half. The Crimson Hawks wouldn't stop there going on another 7-2 to give IUP its largest lead of the game 51-45. MU would slowly be able to chip away at the IUP lead and eventually get the deficit down to one point with 2:19 left in the game. Down the stretch, with 34 seconds left, Lang hit a huge three putting the Lakers up 61-59.
- The next IUP possession, Miller would respond with a three of his own putting the Hawks back up 62-61 with 20 seconds remaining. Diaz would then steal the ball from Smith and head to the line for a one and one. Diaz would miss the free throw but get his own rebound and be fouled again to go back to the line. He would make that one and put IUP up 63-61. Pratapas would then sub into the game with eight seconds remaining. Pratapas with two seconds left in the corner hit a three with 0.4 seconds remaining to give Mercyhurst the upset over #4 IUP, 64-63.
Leading the Lakers
- The Lakers have three scorers averaging above nine points per game. Jason Massey leads the team in points and is 15th in the conference scoring 16.8 per game. Massey also is second in the PSAC with a field goal percentage 57 percent.
- Nelson Maxwell is the other player scoring in double digits with 12.0 per game and MiyKah McIntosh with 9.2.
- Trystan Pratapas leads the conference in three point field goal percentage (.541).
- Patrick Smith leads the team in rebounds averaging 8.1 per game and is currently eighth in the PSAC.
- Derrick Ellis Jr. sits 12th in the conference in assists with 3.8 per game.
- Edvaldo Ferreira plays a major role on the defensive side for the Lakers averaging 1.2 blocks per game placing him sixth in the conference
Success As a Team
- With a Win over IUP the Lakers are the second hottest team in the conference with seven straight wins
- The Lakers have the number one defense in the conference and ranked second in Division ll giving up 60.2 points per game
- In the past seven games, Mercyhurst has only let two teams (Pitt-Johnstown and IUP) score above 60 points
- Against Gannon, the Lakers only allowed the Golden Knights to score 35 points which was the least amount of points the Lakers allowed since their second game of the season against Fredonia (36)
- A big part of the reason why the Lakers have the success they do on defense is the number of defensive rebounds they average a game with 33.2 placing them second in the PSAC
- On the offensive side, MU is ninth in the PSAC in points scored per game (76.6) and first in scoring margin (16.4)
- MU has a three point field goal percentage of .408 placing them first in the conference and second in three point field goals made averaging 9.3 per game
Postseason Implications
- With Postseason approaching, Mercyhurst is one game away from clinching playoff berth with a win against Clarion and a Seton Hill loss
- The top two teams from each division will host a playoff game and receive a first round bye
Against Clarion
- Clarion leads the all-time series against Mercyhurst 29-28
- MU took the first game of the season on the road over Clarion 62-57, Massey led the Lakers with 19 Points
Next Up: The Lakers will be on the road on Saturday at Slippery Rock as they will look to get revenge as SRu stole the first in at the MAC in double overtime
