Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst Men's Basketball got their fourth consecutive win of the season Sunday afternoon with them able to grab the win over Shippensburg on their home floor. The Lakers came out strong and built a large lead as they move to 2-1 in conference play and 6-1 overall with their 84-55 win.
How it Happened
The Lakers did not waste any time jumping out in front as they built out a solid lead in the early going. They were able to crack double-digits on the board thanks to a three-point basket coming courtesy of Jeff Planutis at the 14:57 mark of the first half to make it an 11-6 game.
From there, Mercyhurst scored 11 unanswered points to move their advantage to 16 points at the midway point of the first half. Aidan Reichert made his presence felt over that run, scoring eight of the team's 11 points to help the Lakers take a 22-6 lead. Shippensburg managed to stop the bleeding and keep the deficit from growing any larger, but they still found themselves down going into the halftime break as the score stood at 42-30.
Mercyhurst kept their counterpart at arm's length throughout the second half as their stout defense and solid shooting helped them continuously build their lead. Pipeloluwa Ajayi helped set the tone on the defensive side in the early going of the second half with a block, showing the Lakers would not rest on their lead.
Shippensburg managed to cut the lead down to single digits in the early going of the second canto as they made it a 45-37 game with 17:26 showing on the game clock. The Lakers didn't let things get any closer than that as they went on a 16-3 run to move their lead out to 21 points. The stretch of dominant play by Mercyhurst saw four three-point plays with the first coming from Planutis who got his points the old-fashioned way with the hoop and harm. The other three came from the team's shooting from deep as Nicholas Lang, Michael Bradley, and MiyKah McIntosh all drained a shot from deep. Their sharpshooting proved to be more than the Raiders could handle as the final 10 minutes of the second half went by without a whimper as the Lakers got their third straight victory of 25 points or more.
By the Numbers
Mercyhurst's defense was almost impenetrable in the second half as they only allowed Shippensburg to go 8-32 (25%) from the field and 3-13 (23.1%) from deep while the Lakers shot 50% (5-10) for three over the final 20 minutes and 46.9% (15-32) from the field. Aidan Reichert led the way for the Lakers with 20 points, one off his career-high. He shot 9-12 from the floor while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds and picking off two passes. He was helped by Planutis who finished with 16 points while Nicholas Lang pitched in 13 to go along with his six rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
What's Next
Mercyhurst has very little time to get ready for their next contest as they are set to play again tomorrow. The Lakers see Lock Haven come to town with the two teams set to face off at 3:00 p.m. inside the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
