ERIE, Pa. - In their stiffest test to date the undefeated and sixth-ranked Mercyhurst men's basketball will look to maintain possession of the Porreco Pride of Erie Cup and earn their fifth straight victory over their crosstown rival as No.21 Gannon University makes the trip up State Street for a 3:30pm tip on Saturday afternoon.

Game Information
Opponent - No. 21 Gannon University Golden Knights
Date - Saturday, February 20
Time - 3:30 pm
Location - Erie, Pa. (Mercyhurst Athletic Center)
Series History - Gannon leads, 54-26 / Last Lakers Win: 2/12/20 (Away), 56-51 / Last Gannon Win: 2/17/18 (Away), 58-50   
Fan Note - Fans will not be allowed inside the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
Live Stats
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Lakers Notes (PDF)

Last Time Out - LAKERS 90, D'Youville 56 (2/12/21) / LAKERS 99, D'Youville 31 (2/13/21)
Mercyhurst began Friday slow falling behind the Saints early, but came on strong as the first half came to a close as MiyKah McIntosh hit a running three-pointer to make it 37-34 at the break.  From that moment on the rest of the weekend belonged to the Lakers as they forced 22 second-half turnovers in the first game en route to the 90-56 win.  Then, less than a day later the Green and Blue showcased even more suffocating defense by causing another 28 visiting turnovers in the convincing 99-31 wire-to-wire victory.  Michael Bradley, Steve Cannady, MiyKah McIntosh and Daniel Ogele each recorded a double-digit scoring game during the two-game set.  

Making History
Saturday's game will not only be broadcast on Mercyhurst Sports Network powered by Stretch Internet, but it will also be show live on local tv on the CW Network thanks to a partnership with Lilly Broadcasting. (Spectrum: Channel 3 or 1003, Dish Network: Channel 3 or 7048, DirecTV: Channel 36, and 35.2 over the air or stream through Erie News Now Plus)

Scouting the Lakers (9-0)
A Classic Finish
Last season's contest between the two teams at the Athletic Center on January 18, 2020, is one that shall not be forgotten for quite awhile as Trystan Pratapas delivered a triple out of the right-wing corner off a McIntosh drive and kick with 1.5 seconds to play to give the Lakers a 58-55 lead.  On the ensuing inbounds play Gannon's Chris Clancy came up just short at the final horn giving the home side the win.  

Hurst is Home
The Lakers are now riding a 13-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 16 of their last 17 contests at home.    

Pursuit of History
This year's team is now just two wins away from matching the best start to a season in program history at 11-0 which was set back in 2008-09. That team began the year 11-0, but ultimately went 5-11 down the stretch for a 16-11 finish.    

Balanced Attack
Thanks to a pair of double-digit outbursts off the bench, Cannady has now joined the pair of McIntosh and Ogele as the leading scorers for Mercyhurst putting up 10.6 points per game.  Pacing the team is McIntosh at 14.3, while Ogele drops 12.2 per contest.  

Hitting the Glass
Mercyhurst ranks 17th in country in rebound margin holding a +6.8 pulling down 36.8 and allowing just 30.0 to the opposition.  Ogele leads the way at 5.3, but has Gross nipping on his heels with 5.1.  The combination of Lang and McIntire grab eight per contest, while Moreaux chips in 3.2.  Joel Ufele, Bradley and McIntosh each average over two per game.  

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
Mercyhurst did a nice job holding onto the rock against D'Youville giving it away a combined 24 times between the two contests, while forcing 64 miscues out of the Saints. On the year the Green and Blue have committed 97 turnovers for an 10.8 average which leaves them 15th in the nation.    

Defense, Defense, Defense
For the first time since January 15, 2020 against Pitt-Johnstown (82-74 win) the Lakers allowed more than 70 points to an opponent on January 29th giving up 75 to AIC in their 87-75 victory.  Defense continues to be a hallmark of the Lakers as they have held their opponents to under 70 points in eight of nine contests this season and 38 of their last 46 games.  In 2019-20, Mercyhurst allowed 70+ points six times and posted a 2-4 mark in those games.   

Bench Scoring is Huge
The Lakers continued to show off their team depth by outscoring the visiting Saints 90-29 over the two games.  For the season Mercyhurst still holds a 293-166 (+127) scoring advantage in players outside of the starting five.

Block Party
The trio of Bradley, Lang and Ogele have four blocks each to lead the team.  Melkisedek Moreaux has added three, while Cannady, McIntire and Ufele have combined for six.  Jeff Planutis and Gross have recorded one apiece.  

Team Numbers
Mercyhurst is averaging 85.7 points per game, while holding their opposition to a nation-best 54.6 ppg for a +31.1 scoring margin which has now moved them from third to first in that category.  They have shot 51.3% from the floor, while going 76.7% at the charity line and 36.1% from beyond the arc.  At the defensive end of the floor they have hauled in 36.8 rebounds, forcing a nation-high 11.3 steals while adding 2.6 blocks per contest.

NCAA Leaders
Bradley is tops in Division II in assist-turnover ratio at +7.50 and is 35th in assists per game (5.0).  Lang ranks 39th in steals per game at 2.00, followed by Bradley with 1.89 for 59th.

Milestone for Manchel
With the win over Roberts Wesleyan College on January 19th head coach Gary Manchel became the 39th coach in Division II Men's Basketball history to win 300 games at their current institution.

Pole Position
The National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II poll has the Lakers continuing their climb up the poll as they are now No. 6, while in the D2SIDA National Media Poll the Lakers moved up three spots from 19th to 16th.  

Postseason Outlook
The Lakers need to reach the magic number of 11 games played in order to be eligible for a potential NCAA Tournament birth.  Mercyhurst has three games left which includes two match-ups with Gannon University and a single contest at Clarion University.  A change to this year's tournament setup is that only six teams will qualify for the Atlantic Regional which is a change from eight.  The conferences to be considered will be the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, Mountain East Conference and the three PSAC independents Mercyhurst, Clarion and Gannon.  The NCAA put out their current list of teams being considered in alphabetical order earlier this week, which you can find here.     

At the Castle (8-0)
Gannon makes the short trip up State Street ranked 21st in the NABC poll and not ranked in the D2SIDA Media poll.  The Golden Knights are coming off two games earlier this week where they knocked off D'Youville in a home-and-home by scores of 91-81 (Tues) and 96-38 (Thurs).  Gannon is led by a trio of double-digit scorers paced by Ike Herster (14.8), followed by Chris Clancy (14.4) and Braden Olsen (11.3).  Kevin Dodds lands off the pace barely by chipping in 8.5 points per game.  As a team they possess a very balanced glass attack headed by Dodds (6.4) and Olsen (5.4).  The quartet of Robertas Jonaitis, Cyril Ogbuagu, Amani Walker and Clancy each grab over four rebounds per game, while two other players add more than three per contest.  The Knights are averaging 84 points per game, giving up just 63.9 for a +20.1 scoring margin.  They are shooting 48.1% in the field, 41.4% from long range and 63.2% on the foul line.  Gannon is grabbing 43.8 rebounds, while on the defensive end they are averaging 8.4 steals and 3.3 blocks.  The castle is being guarded by Kelvin Jefferson in his second season.              
  
On Deck
Mercyhurst and Gannon will do it all again next Saturday, February 27th at 1pm inside the Hammermill Center for Round Two of the Porreco Pride of Erie.  

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.