WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The fourth-seeded Mercyhurst men's basketball team got a pair of clutch free throws from
Cameron Gross with 5.5 seconds left in the game to survive a furious rally from the fifth-seed Fairmont State University Fighting Falcons to advance to the NCAA Atlantic Regional Semifinal tomorrow night with a 62-58 victory on Saturday night at the Academic, Sports & Recreation Complex on the campus of West Liberty University. The Lakers will face the top-seed Hillsdale College Chargers tomorrow night at 7:45pm.
Mercyhurst was out of the gates fast as they went on a 10-0 run over the opening 2:55 with Gross and
MiyKah McIntosh hitting from deep coupled with a pair of mid-range jumpers by
Zach McIntire. Fairmont jumped right back in with triples by Isaiah Sanders and Przemyslaw Golek leading to eight straight to cut the margin to 10-8 with five minutes gone. After a
Nicholas Lang bucket made it 12-8, the Falcons rallied back to grab their first edge of the night with five consecutive points to lead 13-12 at the under 12-minute media. McIntosh put a stop to the FSU run at 9-0, with a driving layup. However, Golek hit from long-range again to extend the Fairmont advantage to 20-14 with ten minutes gone.
Michael Bradley and
Melkisedek Moreaux brought the Green and Blue to within one at the under eight timeout, 20-19. The same duo accounted for seven straight out the break to reclaim the 24-20 lead. FSU outpaced the Lakers 5-4 over the next two minutes to close within 28-25. A pair of Gross free throws capped the scoring with Mercyhurst on top 33-27 at half.
Sanders scored just 16-seconds into half number two, before Ogele and McIntire went on a 6-0 sprint opening up their second double-digit advantage of the game at 39-29 prompting an FSU timeout with 17:13 remaining. The Falcons fought back netting 13 straight as a jam from Seth Younkin gave them a slim 42-41 edge, before a triple by Gross on the left wing moved Hurst back ahead 44-42 at the under 12 media. Out of the break the two sides shared buckets with McIntire finishing off a cutting layup to stay in front 48-46 with 10-minutes to play. Bradley, hit a running one-hander and Lang delivered from deep to make it 53-48 good guys at 12:27 mark. The Lakers stretched their advantage to nine with a 6-0 run led by four from McIntire, including a slam to make it 59-50 with 5:19 left. The well went dry on both sides for the next two minutes, before Dale Bonner knocked home two at the line out of the final media timeout. Cole VonHandorf and Bonner brought FSU to within 60-56 with 80-ticks to go. After Golek brought the gap to just two 60-58, Gross knocked down a pair of clutch foul shots with 5.5 to play for the 62-58 final.
Team Stat Pack
Field Goal % - Hurst, 46.3% (25-54) / FSU, 42% (21-50)
Three Point % - Hurst, 53.8% (7-13) / FSU, 31.6% (6-19)
Foul Shooting % - Hurst, 41.7% (5-12) / FSU, 71.4% (10-14)
Rebounds - Hurst, 34 / FSU, 32
Turnovers - Hurst, 16 / FSU, 19
Points in Paint - Hurst, 24 / FSU, 18
Bench Points - Hurst, 13 / FSU, 0
Mercyhurst Individual Stats
Points - McIntire (15), Gross and McIntosh (12)
Rebounds - Bradley (7), Lang (6), Gross (5)
Assists - Bradley (3), Gross and McIntire (2)
Fairmont State Individual Stats
Points - Sanders (18), Bonner (15), Younkin (10)
Rebounds - Younkin (8), Golek (7)
On Deck
The Lakers advance to tomorrow's Atlantic Regional semifinal where they will play top-seed Hillsdale College at 7:45pm at the ASRC in West Liberty, West Virginia.
