ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's basketball team rode hot shooting from deep going 13-29 to hold off the host Gannon University and retain the Pride of Erie Cup in round 2 of the Porreco Pride of Erie Games on Wednesday night at the Hammermill Center.  

The Lakers took the early lead on a triple from MiyKah McIntosh, but an old-fashioned three-point play from Matt Johnson had things locked 3-3 a minute in.  Gannon used a 10-0 run on buckets from Chris Clancy, Kevin Dodds, and Johnson to lead 13-3 with 16:12 left in the half.  Zach McIntire would make one of the visitors two free throws in the half, before the Lakers went on a tear from deep as Cameron Gross, Nicholas Lang, McIntosh, and McIntire all hit threes to complete a 13-3 charge of their own drawing the contest even at 16-16 halfway into the frame.  Mercyhurst took their first lead of the game as Michael Bradley stepped into a three for the 19-16 edge, before Frank Webb Jr. and Dodds each hit a layup to move the Golden Knights back ahead 20-19 with seven minutes remaining.  Lang hit the guests second foul shot of the period to make it 20-20, before Clancy and McIntosh both hit from deep to keep it deadlocked 23-23.  Steve Cannady, Gross and McIntosh continued the barrage from deep as the Lakers finished on a 9-4 push to lead 32-27 at the break.  In the half, the guest did not knock down a two point shot going 0-9, but were 10-18 beyond the arc.  

Gannon started the second half with a 8-3 push with all eight coming from DeAnte Cisero to tie the game back up at 35-35 with 4:13 elapsed.  Cisero continued his personal charge as he gave the Golden Knights the advantage 37-35 and then Webb pushed it to 39-35 off a steal culminating in a layup prompting a visitor timeout with 14:07 left.  Lang stopped the Gannon charge with a corner three, before Johnson put home a driving layup to hold onto a three-point cushion 41-38 at the under 12-minute media timeout.  Mercyhurst finally stuck a two-point shot when McIntire side-stepped his defender and hit the layup to close the gap to 44-42 at the halfway point.  The game would not see another basket until the 13:22 mark when Cannady buried a triple out of the left-corner making it 45-45.  Cannady and Bradley picked up driving layups to nudge the Lakers in front 49-45 with 4:30 left.  A foul shot by Johnson and a steal along with the layup from Clancy brought the hosts to within just one 49-48 under three to play.  They would then take the lead with a Ciscero jumper, however, Cannady was fouled beyond the arc on the ensuing possession.  He knocked home two of three to jump ahead 51-50 with 1:42 left.  Johnson split a pair at the line to even things back up 51-51, with 64-ticks remaining.  McIntosh hit four free throws down the stretch to secure the 56-51 win.              

Mercyhurst was 34.8% overall from the field, but went 44.8% beyond the arc and 64.7% on the foul line.  Gannon shot 38.2% in the field, 25% from deep, and 45.5% at the charity stripe.  The Lakers held a 10-0 edge in bench scoring, but were outscored in the paint 32-6.  

Game Changer award winner McIntosh finished with 16 points, three assists and two steals.  Cannady joined him in double-figures with 10.  while Gross, Lang and McIntire combined for 25.  Gross had a team-high seven boards.  

Johnson (15), Cisero (13) and Clancy (11) all reached double-digits.  Dodds had a game-high 11 boards. 

Playoff Push
Mercyhurst currently sits in second in the PSAC, but only two games separate second from fifth.

On Deck - Time to Rest 
The Lakers have the weekend off before hosting Pitt-Johnstown on Wednesday, February 19 at 7:30 pm inside the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.