ERIE, Pa. - Junior guard
MiyKah McIntosh had a season-high 25 points on 9-12 shooting from the floor, including a perfect 4-4 beyond the arc to help the No. 8/18 Mercyhurst men's basketball team overcome a slow start to coast to a 91-54 victory over Clarion University on Wednesday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
It was the visitors who got out to the quick start with Kaison Branch, Jordan Agyemang and Gerald Jarmon scoring eight straight after an early bucket from
Daniel Ogele for an 8-2 lead 4:23 in. The Lakers responded with an 11-5 push over the next 2:58 which included three of McIntosh's four triples on the day to knot the score at 13-13.
Steve Cannady and McIntosh converted on the foul line to give the home team a pair of one-point advantages at 14-13 and 17-16 with 10:02 to play. Clarion retook the lead, 18-17 at the 10:14 mark thanks to two Agyemang free throws. However, that was short-lived as on the ensuing possession Ogele took a pass from
Nicholas Lang which led to a thunderous dunk and sparked a 9-0 charge with
Cameron Gross along with Lang contributing on the offensive end to jump ahead 26-18. Steve Kelly and Jarmon came back with eight unanswered to draw even again at 26-26. The remaining 6:07 belonged to the Green and Blue as they closed on a 22-3 rampage punctuated by slams from
Zach McIntire and
Melkisedek Moreaux coupled with a floating buzzer-beater by
Steve Cannady to lead 48-29 at the break.
Clarion came out of the rest strong picking up five of the opening seven points to close within 50-34, 1:46 in.
Michael Bradley, Gross, McIntire and McIntosh each scored buckets over the next 2:10 to stretch the margin to 58-36. The Lakers continued to maintain a 20-plus point advantage until Aaron Hilzendeger knocked down a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 62-43 with 11:19 to play. Bradley accounted for four of next six home points during a 6-3 push to make it 68-46. Mercyhurst got the lead to 30 (80-50) at the 16:32 mark thanks to a 12-4 charge which was started by McIntire's second jam of the game,
Jeff Planutis, Gross and McIntosh chipped in as well. Kaison Branch and Planutis exchanged threes, before the Lakers finished the game on an 8-1 run to cap off the 91-54 win.
Team Stat Pack
Field Goal % - Hurst, 55.4% (36-65) / Clarion, 37.5% (18-48)
Three Point % - Hurst, 46.7% (7-15) / Clarion, 41.7% (10-24)
Foul Shooting % - Hurst, 92.3% (12-13) / Clarion, 61.5% (8-13)
Rebounds - Hurst, 36 / Clarion, 26
Turnovers - Hurst, 6 / Clarion, 19
Points off Paint - Hurst, 50 / Clarion, 14
Bench Points - Hurst, 30 / Clarion, 12
Time with lead - Hurst, 31:01 / Clarion, 7:49
Mercyhurst Individual Stats
Points - McIntosh (25), Lang (13), Gross and Ogele (10)
Rebounds - McIntire and McIntosh (5), Moreaux and Ogele (4)
Assists - Bradley (6), Lang (4)
Clarion Individual Stats
Points - Agyemang and Jarmon (12)
Rebounds - Agyemang (5)
On Deck
The Lakers are now off until Tuesday, February 9th when they welcome Kentucky State University at 3pm.
