Lock Haven, Pa. - The PSAC released their preseason poll which can only mean one thing: basketball is right around the corner. Mercyhurst Men's Basketball is close to returning for another season and looks to have another successful campaign, coming into the 2022-23 season ranked 2nd in the PSAC West.
The Lakers come off a very successful season in which they finished 25-7 overall and 17-5 in the conference while managing to make it to the NCAA Tournament. They'll look to repeat their accomplishments from a year ago and win 25 or more games for a second consecutive season. Mercyhurst has been no stranger to acclaim in recent years as they have won 20 or more games in three of the last four seasons and 25 or more in two of those while finishing no lower than third in the PSAC West during that span.
Mercyhurst welcomes back a large group of returners with a dozen players from last year's roster returning to the team for another go-around. That group is headlined by graduate guard MiyKah McIntosh who comes off a season he led the Lakers in points per game with 16 while shooting 38.9% from three on his way to an all-conference nod. He is joined by the likes of Jeff Planitus and Michael Bradley who both averaged double-digit points in the 2021-22 season.
The team adds four new faces to the fold in the form of four freshmen. Dasan Doucet, Christian Gamble, and Sean Fullerton add depth to the team's backcourt while Luke Triggs helps give Mercyhurst some length on the wing and inside, standing 6'7". Even with a veteran group, Head Coach Gary Manchel looks to use his youngsters as the Lakers vie for their first conference title since 2016.
The aforementioned Manchel mans the helm for Mercyhurst for the 20th season with him continuing his storied career as the Laker's head coach. Manchel holds a winning percentage of 62.8% for his career at Mercyhurst while holding the record for the most wins in school history at 308. He has led the team to six NCAA Tournament appearances along with six seasons of 20 or more wins while having a winning record in 16 consecutive seasons and he looks to add one more notch to each of those lines while helping the Lakers claim their second PSAC West title in 2022-23.
IUP comes out on top in the preseason poll with eight of the nine first place votes in the PSAC West while Cal (Pa.) followed the Lakers and UPJ is in fourth. For the PSAC East, East Stroudsburg leads the way with seven first-place votes while Shippensburg and Millersville both received one.
Mercyhurst begins their season in less than a month with them starting their year at Daemen on Wednesday, November 16th, before trips to West Chester and Millersville to begin the month of December on the 2nd and 3rd.
