ERIE, Pa. - The No. 21 Mercyhurst Men's Basketball team put together a total team effort en route to winning their third straight contest as they knocked off the visiting Ashland University Eagles by a final of 73-59 on Thursday night at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
Daniel Ogele began the first half with a bang hitting from deep 44-seconds in, and then scoring four more including a thunderous dunk after driving down the baseline to make it 7-0. The Lakers extended the margin to 10 when
MiyKah McIntosh knocked hom a three of his own. Mercyhurst continued to pull away as
Zach McIntire,
Michael Bradley,
Cameron Gross,
Nicholas Lang,
Melkisedek Moreaux and McIntosh all scored during a 17-7 home charge to open up a sizable 24-7 lead at the halfway point. Ashland worked their way back to within a dozen using a 9-4 push ended by a jumper from Bo Furcron. Ogele would add another trey, while
Steve Cannady and Moreaux each recorded a layup to lead 35-24 at half.
McIntosh scored the first bucket of half number two with a pull-up jumper, however the Eagles flew back into the game as Aaron Thompson, Hunter Shedenhelm and Furcron went on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit down to 37-33. From there the Lakers took control thanks to three-balls from Ogele, Lang, and Bradley coupled with a Lang layup making it 48-33 with 13-minutes remaining. Ethan Conley and Shedenhelm both hit from beyond the arc to give the Eagles life at 50-39, but a pair of Cannady bombs and one by Lang pushed the advantage over 20 at 61-40. Brandon Haraway and Shedenhelm brought the margin under 20 to 63-44 still with 6:06 left. Ashland tried to get back into the game, but McIntire and Cannady picked up points, before Moreaux closed out the scoring on the night with a monstrous dunk for the 73-59 final.
Team Stat Pack
Field Goal % - Hurst, 50% (29-58) / Ash, 42.6% (20-47)
Three Point % - Hurst, 46.2% (12-26) / Ash, 47.4% (9-19)
Foul Shooting % - Hurst, 75% (3-4) / Ash, 83.3% (10-12)
Rebounds - Hurst, 30 / Ash, 27
Turnovers - Hurst, 10 / Ash, 17
Points off Turnovers - Hurst, 18 / Ash, 4
Mercyhurst Individual Stats
Points - Cannady (14), Ogele (13), Lang (12), McIntosh and Moreaux (10)
Rebounds - Lang (5),
Joel Ufele, Ogele, and Gross (4), McIntire (3)
Assists - Bradley (7), Lang (3), McIntire and McIntosh (2)
Ashland Individual Stats
Points - Haraway (17), Furcron (16), Conley (14)
Rebounds - Haraway (7), Conley and Furcron (4)
On Deck
The Lakers will have to wait until 2021 before they hit the court again.
