Amherst, N.Y. - Mercyhurst Men's Basketball got their new season underway with a bang as they came back from a double-digit deficit to defeat Daemen. Michael Bradley played the part of hero, draining the last-second shot to move the Lakers to 1-0 on the year in the 62-61 win over the Wildcats

How it Happened

Things were tight between the two teams in the early going as neither team was able to grab the early advantage. Both teams seemed to have an answer for what the other was doing in the first sereval minutes as at the 12:37 mark the two teams found themselves tied after a turnaround jumper by Nicholas Lang made it a 14-14 game. Lang proved to be big for the Lakers during the first seven minutes and change as he was 4-4 with nine of the team's first 14 points.

The remainder of the opening half of play continued to be tight with the largest lead of the canto being four points. Mercyhurst's defense played tough during the middle portion of the half as they held the Wildcats scoreless for over four minutes with Daemen going 0-3 during that stretch with three turnovers. Unfortunately for Mercyhurst, they were not able to take full advantage as they scored just four points during the run. 

Down the stretch of the first half, the Laker's Michael Bradley found his rhythm as he helped his team keep pace with the opposition. Over the final eight minutes and change, the guard from San Antonio, Tx. scored six of the team's final eight points, going 3-7 from the field. His last two makes scored the final four points of the stanza for the Lakers as they went into the halftime break down 30-28. 

The second half started very similarly to the first with the two teams continuing to play each other even. The main difference for the Lakers proved to be their three-point shooting. After hitting just one in the first canto, two of their first three makes in the second came from deep with Bradley and Lang each knocking one down. 

The Wildcats began to find their groove in the middle of the second half with them able to claim the first double-digit of the game after a made jumper made it a 53-42 game. Daemen went on a 15-4 run to take the lead with them doing much of their work outside the paint with four jumpers falling while two of them were from beyond the arc.

Mercyhurst did not go away quietly as they continually trimmed down Daemen's lead. A trio of treys by the Lakers got them right back in the game with the final cutting the lead to three. The first three-point make came courtesy of Aidan Reichert with Bradley canning the other two to make it a 55-52 game with 3:50 to go. Bradley did not stop there as he scored the final four points of the game to help lift the Lakers to the win. His final bucket came at the buzzer as he stopped at the right elbow before fading away and sinking the shot to seal the win.

By the Numbers 

Mercyhurst came up big in the second half from deep as they went 6-11 from beyond the arc after nailing just one triple in the opening frame. The Lakers were very careful with the ball as they had only nine turnovers compared to the Wildcat's 15 with Mercyhurst able to capitalize on those as they scored 17 points off turnovers. Michael Bradley finished with a game-high 21 points on 9-18 shooting while nailing three triples and adding eight rebounds and four assists to his ledger. Nicholas Lang followed with 15 points on 5-6 shooting with eight rebounds as well. 

What's Next

The Lakers take some time off before their next game as they do not play again until December 2nd when they travel to play West Chester at 7:30 p.m. before turning around and playing Millersville the next day at 3:00 p.m.