ERIE, Pa. - Junior guard
Zach McIntire played a season-high 39 minutes and posted a career-high 28 points to help the Mercyhurst men's basketball team past the fifth-ranked Crimson Hawks of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West action.
Ethan Porterfield gave IUP the 2-0 lead 18-seconds in, before
Nicholas Lang delivered a three and
Cameron Gross along with McIntire gave the host a 7-2 lead. The Crimson Hawks closed to within one 10-9 on buckets by Shawndale Jones, Dave Morris, and Porterfield. Five points from McIntire and a triple by Lang helped an 8-2 Lakers run to grab an 18-11 with 11:37 to go. McIntire continued his phenomenal start to the game by burying another three along with a pull-up jumper to hold a 23-15 advantage. Malik Miller cut it down to 23-17, but Mercyhurst answered back with an 8-0 charge started by a
Trystan Pratapas three and finished by a jam from McIntire to stretch the lead to 31-17 with 5:44 remaining. Armoni Foster, Jones, and Miller organized a 5-0 run to get within 31-22.
Michael Bradley, Gross, and McIntire ended the half on a 9-1 stampede to lead 40-23 at half. McIntire closed the opening 20-minutes with 17 points going 7-10 from the field, including 3-4 from deep.
McIntire picked up right where he left off scoring the opening bucket of the second frame followed by a layup by Gross extending the advantage over 20 at 44-23 with 17:39 left. Porterfield began and finished a 9-0 IUP flight to get the deficit under control 44-32. After a McIntire free throw stalled the attack for a moment Foster hit on back-to-back jumpers to make it 45-36 with 7:10 gone. A triple by
Steve Cannady and layup for Gross allowed the Lakers to net five of the ensuing nine points to regain the double-digit cushion 50-40. McInitre picked up four of a 6-1 charge with the other home basket coming from
Joel Ufele. The Crimson Hawks outscored the Lakers 6-4 over the next couple of minutes trimming the margin to 60-47 with 13:55 gone. Gross converted a layup on a nice dish from Lang to open the lead out to 64-50, however, a 10-2 push by IUP on scores by Miller, Foster, Porterfield, and Morris gave the guest hope at 66-60 under a minute left. Solo free throws from Bradley and Gross helped the Lakers get over the finish line for the 68-62 triumph.
Mercyhurst shot 45.8% from the field, 44.4% outside the arc, but only 50% on the line. IUP was 43.1% in the field, 18.2% from beyond, and 77.8% at the charity stripe. The Lakers held a 12-2 edge in bench scoring and a 25-10 advantage in points off of turnovers.
McIntire was joined in double-digits by Gross who added 14. Bradley added eight, while Cannady picked up seven. Lang, Pratapas, and Ufele combined for 11 points. McIntire and Gross each had a team-high seven boards.
Foster had 20 to lead the Crimson Hawks, followed by Porterfield with 17. Morris and Jones chipped in nine and eight respectively. Foster grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
The Lakers will look to build on this win when they visit Seton Hill University on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm. Mercyhurst knocked off the Griffins 73-58 at the MAC on January 3rd.
