ERIE, Pa. - After a split in their last two games as part of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East/West Crossover the Mercyhurst men's basketball team will look to begin the Western Division portion of their schedule with a victory over the visiting Griffins of Seton Hill University on Friday night at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.

Game Information
Opponent - Seton Hill Griffins
Date - Friday, January 3
Time - 7:30 pm
Location - Erie, Pa. (Mercyhurst Athletic Center)
Series History - Hurst leads 13-0, (Lakers won last meeting 78-48 on 3/4/19 in 1st Round of the PSAC Tournament at the MAC)
Lakers Notes
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Last Time Out
The Lakers had the lead early in their last game out at East Stroudsburg, but home runs of 11-0 and 9-3 helped the Warriors to lead 34-21 at the half.  Unfortunately, for Mercyhurst things would not get much better as ESU went scorching hot from beyond the arc shooting 10-12 from three-point range over the second 20-minutes to upend the Green and Blue 83-64 at the Koehler Fieldhouse.  Michael Bradley and MiyKah McIntosh led the Lakers in scoring with 14 and 11 points respectively.  Big men Cameron Gross and Joel Ufele posted eight apiece as well.  

Scouting the Lakers (5-4, 3-2 PSAC)
Team Numbers
Mercyhurst averages 79.1 points per game, while holding their opposition to 69.1.  Their +9.3 scoring margin ranks 64th nationally.  They are shooting just short of 50% from the floor at 49.8%, and are 71.2% at the charity line.  The Lakers sit at 41.6% shooting outside the arc which is good for 12th in the country.  At the defensive end of the floor they are pulling in 32.6 rebounds, putting up 7.0 steals per game, and are putting up 2.6 blocks.  

Protect the Ball
The Lakers have done an outstanding job of protecting the ball as their 104 turnovers on the season is good for second in the PSAC and ranks 12th in the nation.  They are also 26th in the nation in turnovers per game with 11.4 which is good for second in the conference.  

Defense, Defense, Defense
Defense has been the name of the game for the Lakers as they have held their competition to under 70 points in 13 of their last 18 games.  Mercyhurst has allowed 70+ points four times so far this season on November 23, 2019 in an 87-85 win at home versus Millersville, the 83-80 overtime loss at West Chester last Saturday, the 76-66 setback home against Le Moyne and their last time out falling at ESU 83-64.

Bench Scoring is Huge
Mercyhurst continues to be strong even outside their starting lineup as they are outscoring their opponents 266-135 for a +131 scoring margin.

Sharing the Wealth 
McIntosh and Ufele are each averaging double-digits putting up 15.4 and 11.0 points per game.  Zach McIntire is adding 8.6, followed by 8.2 out of Cameron Gross.  Steve Cannady, Nicholas Lang, and Trystan Pratapas are each averaging seven per contest.

Block Party
Mercyhurst has 23 blocks as a team, led by a team-high ten from Ufele.  Five other Lakers have recorded blocks on the season as well, including four each by McIntire and Andrew Seager. 

NCAA Leaders
Bradley ranks 25th in the country and is second in the PSAC in assist-turnover ratio posting a 3.10.  McIntosh is 89th in free throw percentage averaging 84.8%.

Scouting the Griffins (1-7, 0-5 PSAC)
Seton Hill has dropped their last six games including a 95-61 defeat at conference newcomer Shepherd University the last time they took the court.  The Griffins are averaging 70.9 points per game on 42.1% shooting from the field, 29.6% at the arc, and 72.3% on the charity line.  On the defensive end they post 2.8 blocks per contest and bring in 37.1 rebounds.  Seton Hill does a pretty good job of protecting the ball only turning it over 13.6 times, but are only causing 9.4 out of their competition. Two players put up double-digits led by Nathan Davis with 22.9 ppg, followed by Jimmy Moon and his 13.1.  Moon is their leading rebounder at 7.3 per contest, while Davis is second hauling in 6.5 boards.  Davis is inside the Top 20 nationally in foul shooting where he ranks sixth (94.3%) and 15th in minutes per game at 37.33.  

On Deck
The Lakers head back out on the road next week for two games going to No. 3 Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Monday, before heading to Clarion on Wednesday.