SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The second-seeded Mercyhurst men's basketball team fought valiantly, but ultimately could not get over the hump as the host and top-seeded Shippensburg University Raiders held a 17-6 advantage in second chance points which allowed them to hold off the Lakers by a final of 59-51 on Saturday afternoon at Heiges Field House in the PSAC Semifinal.
The game started out scoreless for the opening three-plus minutes before
Michael Bradley hit a pull-up 15-footer for the 2-0 edge. Carlos Carter finally put the home team on the board with a follow-up layup at the 4:45 mark.
Steve Cannady hit from deep and
Cameron Gross converted a driving layup to make it 7-2, but a triple for Jake Biss quickly trimmed it down to 7-5. However, an "old-fashioned" three-point play for John Castello brought the margin to 9-8 at the under 12-minute timeout. A
Joel Ufele bucket upped the margin to 11-9, but four straight by Lamar Talley gave the Raiders their first lead of the day 12-11 with 10:03 left in the half. Ship extended the advantage to 16-13 on a layup by Dom Sleva and jay from Biss. Treys from both
MiyKah McIntosh and Biss left Hurst behind 19-16, however, McIntosh roared back with four straight to get the visitors on top 20-19 at the 15:07 mark. McIntire and McIntosh would add on to the lead with a jam along with a driving layup making it 24-21 with less than two minutes remaining. The second "old-fashioned" three-point play of the frame for the Raiders drew things even 24-24. Castello split a pair at the stripe to close the half with the hosts up barely 25-24.
Ufele and Luke Nedrow exchanged buckets in the opening minute, before a jumper from Lang and one at the line by Ufele made it 29-27 Lakers, 1:33 in. Biss delievered from long-rang to put Ship on top, but was immediately answered by McIntire for the 31-30 edge. A couple of one-and-done trips by the Lakers coupled with four consecutive points by Castello had Shippensburg up 34-31 with 14:05 remaining. Four in-a-row by McIntosh got the Lakers to within 36-35, but a triple for Sleva and a free throw by Carter had the hosts in front 42-35 with 11:37 left. Mercyhurst outscored Ship 7-6 over the next 2:12, thanks to buckets from Bradley and McIntosh but only closed the gap to 48-46. A pull-up from Bradley and a free throw for Cannady along with a bucket by
Andrew Seager had it to 50-47 with just under six minutes remaining. Five straight by Kiyon Hardy pushed the gap out to 55-47 at the under four minute media timeout. McIntosh and Seager would cut the deficit to 57-51, but a layup by Castello capped the scoring for the 59-51 final.
Mercyhurst shot 41% from the floor, 21% outside the arc, and 57% (4-7) on the line. Shippensburg went 37% in the field, 22% from beyond and 83% (10-12) at the charity stripe. Ship held a 44-29 edge on the glass (16-6 offensive). Mercyhurst did what they do best holding on to the ball well committing nine turnovers to the Raiders 13.
McIntosh led the Lakers with 20. Bradley added eight, while Gross (4), McIntire (4), Lang (2), Ufele (5), Cannady (4) and Seager (4) combined for the rest. Lang had a team-high seven rebounds, followed by five from McIntire and four for Ufele.
Biss had 13 to pace the Raiders, and was joined in double-figures by Castello and Carter who each dropped a dozen. Castello completed the double-double with 12 rebounds.
The Lakers will now wait until tomorrow night to see if they earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament with the selection show set for 10:30pm on NCAA.com.
