Erie, Pa.—A sold-out crowd packed the Mercyhurst Athletic Center as the No. 20/23 Mercyhurst men's Basketball team defeated Gannon 87-77 on Owen McCormick Court Wednesday night.
How it Happened
Three-pointers accounted for the first nine of 11 points the Lakers scored in the game as MiyKah McIntosh and Nicholas Lang gave Mercyhurst an 11-2 lead at 17:06.
The Lakers continued their ranged onslaught in the first half, making 64.3 percent of their three-pointers to best their 55.6-percentage overall from the floor.
The Lakers took a comfortable 44-31 lead into the locker room. McIntosh was a perfect 6-6 from the floor – 4-4 from beyond the arc – and missed just one of his free-throws in the first half.
Nearly two minutes went by before Lang opened the scoring in the second half with a pair of made free-throws. Gannon responded with a seven-point run to cut the deficit to eight points, and continued to chip away.
After letting the lead slip to just two points, McIntosh nailed a trio of free-throws at 10:05 to start the Lakers moving back in the right direction. That kicked off a seven-point run of their own, and threes from Lang and Steve Cannady on either side of the six-minute mark helped cement the Lakers lead.
Despite Gannon outscoring the Lakers 46-43 in the second half, the Lakers' first-half lead proved the difference as Mercyhurst came away victorious.
By the Numbers
The Lakers out-shot Gannon from the floor with a 54.2 field-goal percentage to Gannon's 50.9 percent. That included from three-range, where the Lakers shot 63.2 percent over the whole game compared to Gannon's 55.6 percent.
McIntosh finished with 28 points to tie Gannon's Braden Olsen in leading all other scorers.
Lance-Amir Paul put 15 points up for the Golden Knights, while the Lakers boasted a pair of 14-point scorers in
Cameron Gross and Lang.
Coach's Corner
Up Next
The Lakers will take the weekend off before heading to RV/NR Pitt-Johnstown on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tilt.
