Indiana, Pa. – The Mercyhurst University men's basketball team punched their ticket to the Atlantic Regional semifinals on Saturday evening after a 71-65 victory over Millersville in the opening round. Michael Bradley led the way for the Lakers on offense by pouring in a game-high 20 points on 7-16 shooting. MiyKah McIntosh and Jeff Planutis also finished in double figures for the green and white. Cameron Gross led all Lakers with eight boards and McIntosh dished out three helpers.
How it Happened
The Marauders jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the first half courtesy of three field goals and a free throw from Caden Najdawi. A Nicholas Lang three followed by two Steve Cannady free throws leveled the game at 7-7 six minutes and 20 seconds into the opening half. From there the Lakers began a 9-2 scoring run that was capped with a Gross three to extend the Laker lead to seven just past the halfway mark of the half. Najdawi responded with four quick points to bring Millersville within four before Bradley began to take over the game for the Lakers.
The junior guard went on to score eight consecutive points for the Lakers to spark a 13-4 Laker scoring stretch that lasted until the under four media timeout in the first half. Millersville came out of the timeout with five straight points of their own before field goals from Bradley along with Nick Lang helped the Lakers cruise into halftime with a comfortable ten point advantage, 36-26.
Just like the first half, the two teams struggled to put the ball in the basket to begin the second half of play as the two teams combined for just five field goals in the first five minutes of the half with McIntosh scoring two of the baskets on a mid-range jumper and a three pointer. Following McIntosh's three, the Marauders stretched out a 5-0 scoring run that spanned for two and a half minutes courtesy of two free throws and a three from Khari Williams. The points cut the Laker lead to 43-33 with 12:01 left in regulation.
After Planutis gave the Lakers a thirteen point advantage with a three, Millersville began another scoring run, this time a 10-4 run that was highlighted by a James Sullivan pull up jumper at the 7:36 mark which cut the Marauders deficit to five. The latter portion of the second half saw the two teams trade multiple field goals and free throws with the Lakers holding a lead as big as 10 when they held a 60-50 lead at the under four media timeout.
Millersville scored the games next five points all on free throws, however a Planutis an-one conversion put Mercyhurst back up by eight with two minutes remaining. The next score of the game didn't come until there was 1:02 remaining when Mekhi Hendricks cut the score to 63-57. The Marauders proceeded to foul the Lakers on their ensuing defensive possessions hoping for missed conversions. This was not the case as Gross, Lang, Bradley, and McIntosh drained two free throws each on the way to closing out the game.
From Press Row
Up Next
The Lakers will now shift their focus to a matchup with the host IUP Crimson Hawks in the Atlantic Regional semifinals tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. A live audio broadcast will be available for tomorrow's game with Jack Angelucci providing commentary. Pre-game starts at 7:20 p.m. at mixlr.com/mercyhurst-athletics .
