ERIE, Pa. - For not playing a game in 32 days the No. 12 Mercyhurst men's basketball team showed no ill-effects of the long layoff as they had five players hit double-figures led by 15 from
Zach McIntire as they toppled the visiting Roberts Wesleyan College Redhawks by a score of 88-56 on Tuesday night at the Athletic Center. With the win, head coach
Gary Manchel became the 39th coach in Division II men's basketball history to record 300 wins at their current institution.
Mercyhurst got off to a fast start with a trey from
MiyKah McIntosh along with buckets by
Michael Bradley and McIntire made it 7-0, 3:25 in. Reggie Clark hit on a pull-up jumper for the first visiting points, but
Daniel Ogele hit from deep and McIntire added four more bumping the cushion to 14-2. The teams shared the next ten points leaving the margin at a dozen, 20-8. Mercyhurt then showed off their shooting range as
Cameron Gross,
Steve Cannady (2x) and McIntire all hit from deep on four consecutive home possessions extending the lead to 32-14 with 7:20 remaining. A jumper from
Nicholas Lang moved the margin to 34-14 on the ensuing trip down the floor. After Isaiah Lewis brought the Redhawks to within 38-21, the home side answered back with baskets from
Joel Ufele, Ogele and Lang to head to the break in front 44-24.
Armon Nasseri tried to give RWC a spark coming out of the half by coverting an "old-fashioned" three-point play to make it 44-27 with just 22 seconds off the clock. Ogele scored five straight as part of a 9-0 Lakers charge stretching the lead to 53-27. The Redhawks tried to stay tough with a 7-4 push capped off by a Reggie Clark free throw cutting it to 57-34, however
Melkisedek Moreaux and Cannady each picked up a layup to quickly restore the lead to 61-34. The duo of Cannady and Gross advanced the hosts lead over the 30-point threshold with a 9-4 run making it 70-38 at the 12-minute mark. From then on the Lakers never let RWC back into the game as the guests got within 28 at 80-52, before Bradley scored six of the final eight points for the 88-54 final.
Team Stat Pack
Field Goal % - Hurst, 46.5% (33-71) / RWC, 42.6% (23-54)
Three Point % - Hurst, 26.7% (8-30) / RWC, 22.2% (4-18)
Foul Shooting % - Hurst, 82.4% (14-17) / RWC, 75% (6-8)
Rebounds - Hurst, 39 / RWC, 32
Turnovers - Hurst, 9 / RWC, 24
Points off Paint - Hurst, 44 / RWC, 32
Mercyhurst Individual Stats
Points - McIntire (15), Ogele (12), Cannady, Gross and McIntosh (10)
Rebounds - Gross (7), Moreaux (6), McIntire, Ogele and Ufele (5)
Assists - Cannady and Gross (4), Bradley and McIntosh (3)
Roberts Wesleyan Individual Stats
Points - I. Lewis (11), Okuyiga (10)
Rebounds - Lee and Nasseri (5), I. Lewis and Okuyiga (4)
On Deck
The Lakers will return to action on Saturday at 3:30pm when they welcome Kentucky State University to the Athletic Center..
