Erie, Pa.—After a week away, the No. 19/23 Mercyhurst Men's Basketball returns to action with a trip to NR/RV Pitt-Johnstown scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday night.

The Matchup

The Lakers improved to 27-24 all-time against UPJ dating back to 1972 after a 90-61 trouncing at home on Jan. 26. At the time, the Mountain Cats occupied the top spot in the PSAC West.

White-Hot

Mercyhurst is on a three-game win streak, knocking off Seton Hill 83-45 at home on Feb. 2, Clarion 71-61 on Feb. 5 and Gannon 87-77 at home Feb. 9. The win over the Golden Knights was played in front of a packed, white-out crowd at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center and was shown locally in Erie on the CW Network. Gannon remains in a fight to secure one of the final two playoff spots in the West after the loss.

National Attention

The Lakers are continuing their slow climb up the national rankings. With just one game last week – a 10-point win over Gannon – the Lakers picked up a spot in the National Association of Basketball Coaches national poll, moving up to No. 19. In the Division II Sports Information Directors of America national media poll, Mercyhurst remained at No. 23. The Lakers also improved to No. 4 in the region, up from No. 7, in D2SIDA's Atlantic Region poll.

Playoffs = Clinched

Currently in third place and a half-game behind UPJ in the PSAC West standings, the Lakers have already secured a berth to the PSAC Tournament, which kicks off in the first week of March. Indiana (Pa., 16-2) leads UPJ (15-4), Mercyhurst (14-4) and California (Pa., 12-5) as the first four teams to lock in a berth.

Scouting the Mountain Cats

After Receiving Votes in last week's NABC poll, UPJ fell out this week due in part to a loss at Gannon last Monday, 67-66. Despite wins over Slippery Rock and Clarion to finish the week, they were left off the poll Tuesday. The bad luck continued for the Mountain Cats as they fell 83-63 to Cal last night. John Paul Kromka has been dominant this season, picking up five PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week honors while averaging 17.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.