Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst Men's Basketball got a big win on their home court Wednesday night with the Lakers defeating Roberts Wesleyan by a final of 88-50 for their second straight win of 35 or more points.
How it Happened
The two offenses began the game slowly with Mercyhurst finding their groove as the first half continued to run down. After scoring just six points in the first five minutes, the Lakers rattled off five in the next two. A three-pointer from Christian Gamble found the bottom of the net while Aidan Reichert made it an 11-2 game with a turnaround jumper in the paint at the 12:52 mark.
Mercyhurst continued to look to get the ball inside the remainder of the half as seven of their remaining eight makes came in the paint. The biggest one was a dunk by Jeff Planutis as he cut backdoor with Nicholas Lang providing the feed.
The dunk grew Mercyhurst's lead out to 32-9 with just over two minutes to go in the first half with the score at the midway point being 36-15.
The results in the second half did not prove to be all that different as Mercyhurst continued to control the game. The way they scored, however, began to revolve around their three-point shooting. After going 3-12 in the first half from distance, the Lakers knocked down nine of their 15 attempts from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes.
The first of those long-range bombs came courtesy of Planutis, putting the score at 43-18 with 18:07 showing on the game clock. From there on out, Mercyhurst kept on finding the bottom of the net as they continued to break the Redhawk's press and found themselves in fast break opportunities.
One player who helped Mercyhurst's efforts from deep down the stretch of the game is Dasan Doucet who hit a trio of triples over the span of a few minutes. The first came at the 7:24 mark of the second period while the second just 40 seconds later to help him reach double-digit points for the first time in his collegiate career.
The third was with 4:56 to go in the game, putting the Lakers ahead 78-44 as they continued to cruise onto an easy win.
By the Numbers
Jeff Planutis once again led the Lakers in scoring with 22 points. He finished 8-13 from the floor while hitting a trio of threes and free throws, giving him his fourth straight game of 20 or more points. Dasan Doucet followed with 14 for a season-high after going 5-7 from the floor and 4-6 from beyond the arc. Pipeloluwa Ajayi proved to be a force around the rim again defensively with four blocks while nabbing two steals to go along with his eight points and five rebounds.
What's Next
It is a quick turnaround for Mercyhurst as they are set to play again tomorrow. The Lakers host Alliance University at 3:00 p.m. inside the Mercyhurst Athletic Center after a postponement of last Saturday's contest.
