Erie, Pa.—After two weeks off, the No. 7/8 Men's Basketball team returns to action as they head downtown for a tilt at Gannon University Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
The Matchup
Gannon is 53-28 all-time against the Lakers in their series dating back to 1974. In recent years, the Lakers have won the last six meetings between the teams, including both Pride of Erie games to end the 2020-21 regular season.
National Attention
A crossover loss to East Stroudsburg – the only regular-season loss that Mercyhurst suffered in 2021 – on Dec. 19 caused Mercyhurst to slip a few spots in both polls, with the National Association of Basketball Coaches ranking the Lakers at No. 7 and the media slotting them at No. 8. After splitting the same spot in last week's media poll with IUP, the Lakers were able to edge them out by one point in this week's poll to take sole possession of No. 8.
Across the Threshold
With 11 points in the Lakers' win against Bloomsburg on Dec. 18, Senior MiyKah McIntosh became the 17th Laker to score 1,000 points in his career. After adding another 13 the next night, McIntosh finds himself with 1,014 as he looks to climb the career scoring leaderboard. McIntosh currently leads the Lakers with an average of 15.3 points per game.
Scouting the Golden Knights
Gannon enters Wednesday's matchup with a 7-2 overall record, and their 4-1 conference record giving them a share of second place in the PSAC West along with the Lakers. While not ranked nationally, the Golden Knights show up at No. 8 in the D2SIDA Atlantic Region poll. Gannon has five players averaging in the double-digits, with Ike Herster averaging 17.9 points and Lance-Amir Paul averaging 16.1.
