ERIE, Pa. - For the first time during the 2020-21 regular season the unbeaten Mercyhurst men's basketball team will hit the road when they travel 463 miles to Springfield, Massachusetts for a two-game weekend series with American International College out of the Northeast 10 Conference on Friday and Saturday.

Game Information
Opponent - American International College Yellow Jackets
Date - Friday, January 29 and Saturday, January 30
Time - 5 pm and 1 pm
Location - Springfield, Mass. (Henry A. Butova Gymnasium)
Series History - Lakers lead, 1-0 / Last Lakers Win: 11/22/02 (Home), 76-72 (OT) / Last AIC Win:  
Fan Note - No fans will be allowed at either game.
Live Stats
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Lakers Game Notes (PDF)

Last Time Out - LAKERS 88, Roberts Wesleyan 56 (1/19/21)
Mercyhurst showed no ill-effects from being out of competition for 32 days as they went wire-to-wire in a convincing 88-56 victory over Roberts Wesleyan College Athletics.  The Lakers jumped out 7-0 and thanks to Daniel Ogele and Zach McIntire pushed the margin to 14-2.  Nicolas Lang, Joel Ufele and Ogele helped to give the Hurst a 44-24 lead at half.  RWC closed within 17 in the second-half, but Mercyhurst let them get no closer as they finished off the win.  The Lakers were led by a balanced scoring attack with five men hitting double-digits led by McIntire with 15.  Ogele followed him with 12, while Steve Cannady, Cameron Gross and MiyKah McIntosh each added 10.

Scouting the Lakers (4-0)
Hurst is Home
The Lakers are now riding a ten-game winning streak inside the Mercyhurst Athletic Center dating back to January 22, 2020 when they suffered a 62-52 setback to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference foe Slippery Rock.  They have won 13 of their last 14 contests at home.  

Balanced Attack
Mercyhurst is led offensively by a trio of double-digit scorers.  McIntosh paces the side with 13.3 points per game, followed by Ogele (12.8) and Cannady (11.5).  Lang and McIntire fall just outside of the trio with both of them adding 9.8 ppg.  Michael Bradley and Melkisedek Moreaux combine for 15 points as well.  

Hitting the Glass
The Lakers increased their rebounding averaging after their victory over RWC going from 33.0 to 34.5 per game.  Gross sits at the top of the team grabbing 6.3 per contest.  Ogele and Ufele both bring in over four, while Lang along with Moreaux are responsible for three per game as well.  

Looking for Their Place
Returners Owen Chambers, Jared Fagan, Trey Hoepner, Junior Oscar and Kofi Osei will work hard to find bigger roles within the team this season, while newcomers Tony Henderson, Sean Lang and Aaron Slaughter will attempt to battle for playing time in practice.  

Protect the Ball
In the win on Tuesday over RWC, Mercyhurst matched their season-low in turnovers from December 12th against Ferris State with nine.  On the year the Green and Blue have committed just 39 turnovers for a 9.75 average which is good for fifth in the nation.    

Defense, Defense, Defense
Defense continues to be a hallmark of the Lakers as they have held their opponents to under 70 points in every game so far this season and 34 of their last 41 games.  In 2019-20, Mercyhurst allowed 70+ points six times on November 23, 2019 in an 87-85 win at home versus Millersville, the 83-80 overtime loss at West Chester, the 76-66 setback home against Le Moyne, falling at ESU 83-64, at IUP in a 71-56 loss, and on the road at UPJ in an 82-74 win.  In those games Mercyhurst went 2-4. 

Bench Scoring is Huge
Mercyhurst continues to be strong even outside of their starting five hold a 126-64 (+62) advantage off the bench.

Block Party
Lang leads the team in blocks with two while, Bradley, McIntire, Moreaux, Ogele, Jeff Planutis, and Ufele have all recorded at least one so far this season.

Team Numbers
Mercyhurst is averaging 81.5 points per game, while holding their opposition to a nation-best 53.2 ppg for a +28.2 scoring margin which is tops in the country as well.  They have shot 49.8% from the floor, while going 82.8% at the charity line and 37.9% from beyond the arc.  At the defensive end of the floor they have hauled in 34.5 rebounds, forced 9.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per contest.

NCAA Leaders
Bradley is tops in Division II in assist-turnover raito at +17.0 and is 22nd in assists per game (5.7).  

Milestone for Manchel
With the win over RWC last week head coach Gary Manchel became the 39th coach in Division II Men's Basketball history to win 300 games at their current institution.

Difference in Opinion
The National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II poll has the Lakers creeping into the Top-10 at No. 10, while in the D2SIDA poll the Green and Blue made their first appearance this week at No. 23.  In the D2SIDA Regional Rankings, Mercyhurst is tied for third in the Atlantic Region.  

In the Beehive (0-0)
American International College will be hitting the floor for their first game of the season when the two teams step on the court Friday evening.  The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 9-19 record last season with a 6-13 mark in NE-10 play.  AIC returns two of their top four leading scorers in Bane Terzic who averaged 10.6 ppg last year, while Shyheim Hicks also hit double-digits netting 10.3 points.  On the glass, Xion Golding leads the way grabbing 6.6 per game.  Their next best returning rebounder is Jordan Vidal hauling in 2.6.  During the 2019-20 campaign the Yellow Jackets scored 72.3 points on average, giving up 77 to the opposition.  As a unit they shot 42.9% from the floor, 31.4% outside the arc and 70.1% at the charity line.  Defensively, they grabbed 37.3 boards, while averaging 6.5 steals and 2.3 blocks to go along with almost 15 turnovers per contest.  Andy Burkholder is in his seventh season as king of the hive.           
  
On Deck
After the weekend set the Lakers are back in action on the home floor Wednesday at 3pm when they entertain Clarion University.

For all the latest schedule updates and news about the Mercyhurst Lakers you can follow us on all social media outlets Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or visit hurstathletics.com.  The men's basketball team is also found on Twitter.