ERIE, Pa. - The No. 6 Mercyhurst men's basketball team built up a 15-point halftime lead and never looked back as they knocked their crosstown rival and No. 21 Gannon University from the ranks of the unbeaten with a convincing 83-61 victory in round one of the Porreco Pride of Erie Games on Saturday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. For the Lakers it was their fifth consecutive win in the rivalry and their 14th-straight win at home.
MiyKah McIntosh posted a game-high 20 points on 6-13 shooting from the field, going 4-10 outside the arc and 4-4 at the foul line. He also added five rebounds, three assists and three steals claimed the Game Changer Award for the second matchup in a row.
Mercyhurst came out of the blocks strong with
Zach McIntire and
MiyKah McIntosh gave the home side a 7-2 edge not even three minutes in. Chris Clancy scored six of eight Gannon points during an 8-5 push over the next 1:57 to close within 12-11. The Lakers then grabbed control with three triples in a row with two from McIntosh and McIntire, before
Melkisedek Moreaux added four straight to finish a 13-0 run making it 25-11 with 11:50 to go. A minute later
Steve Cannady delivered from deep bumping the margin to 28-13. Mercyhurst continued to lead by double-figures, until the 11:43 mark when Dodds grabbed a defensive rebounds and finished off at the other end to cut the deficit to 29-20. The treys continued to pour in for the Green and Blue as Cannady hit twice and McIntosh added one more during an 11-3 charge to open up a 40-23 cushion under five minutes remaining. Gannon outscored the hosts the rest of the period 9-7, but it only closed the gap by two to 47-32 at half.
Cameron Gross and Dodds shared the opening four points of period two, prior to
Michael Bradley and Gross netting four in a row to make it 53-34 with five minutes gone. The Lakers looked to put even more distance between the two sides going on a 7-0 spurt over a 65-second span thanks to
Nicholas Lang, Moreaux and McIntire. Gannon could do little to cut into the deficit and things even tougher on them when
Daniel Ogele, Lang and Cannady each scored during a three-minute stretch pushing the advantage to 68-43 under eight minutes to play. The big men took over later in the second-half with Joel Ufelle and Moreaux doing work inside to get the home team their largest lead of the afternoon at 79-50 at the 16:57 mark. Gannon finished the game tough outscoring Mercyhurst 11-4 the rest of the way, with
Jeff Planutis and Cannady supplying the Lakers offense to cap off the victory.
Team Stat Pack
Field Goal % - Hurst, 50% (29-58) / Gannon, 45.8% (22-48)
Three Point % - Hurst, 40% (10-25) / Gannon, 36.8% (7-19)
Foul Shooting % - Hurst, 68.2% (15-22) / Gannon, 62.5% (10-16)
Rebounds - Hurst, 30 / Gannon, 29
Turnovers - Hurst, 10 / Gannon, 21
Points in Paint - Hurst, 30 / Gannon, 26
Bench Points - Hurst, 39 / Gannon, 24
Time with lead - Hurst, 39:23 / Gannon, 0:16
Mercyhurst Individual Stats
Points - McIntosh (20), Cannady (16), Moreaux (12), McIntire (10)
Rebounds - McIntosh (5), Cannady (4)
Assists - Bradley (5), McIntire and McIntosh (3)
Gannon Individual Stats
Points - Dodds (15)
Rebounds - Dodds (5)
On Deck
The Lakers return to action on Saturday, February 27th at 1pm when they do it all again with the No. 21 Gannon University Golden Knights in the second round of the Porreco Pride of Erie Games at the Hammermill Center.
