Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst Men's Basketball proves once again to be unbeatable on Owen McCormick Court Saturday afternoon in their major win over Slippery Rock. The Lakers got out to an early lead and never looked back from there as they improve to 11-2 on the year and 8-0 at home in the 81-51 win.
How it Happened
Mercyhurst jumped out in front in the early going thanks in large part to their interior shooting. The first Laker make came from inside, allowing for a few shots from deep to become open. From there, coach Manchel's crew went back to work inside with the final three makes of a 16-5 run to begin the game coming from in the paint. The final of those buckets displayed how well Mercyhurst was doing on both ends as MiyKah McIntosh got the steal before a fast break layup from Sean Fullerton gave the Lakers their first double-digit lead of the game.
The Lakers kept their foot on the gas as they controlled the game on both sides of the ball down the stretch of the opening half of play. Mercyhurst continued to shoot well from three, opening up lanes toward the rim. Jeff Planutis found one of those lanes late in the canto as he cut back door with Aidan Reichert finding him for a sweet layup, putting Mercyhurst in front 32-9 with just over five minutes to go in the frame.
The Lakers went into the half-time break ahead 44-17 as they went on a 12-8 run with Planutis accounting for seven of those points while Michael Bradley had the final five.
The Rock found a flow on offense to begin the second half as they came out and scored 13 points in the first six minutes. The Lakers, however, kept pace and did not allow their counterparts to begin to chip away at their lead. After a five-point swing by Slippery Rock threatened to begin the comeback, McIntosh dashed those hopes with a triple, making it a 58-30 score.
The lead for the Lakers hovered around 30 points for the remainder of the game as they did not give up any ground on their way to another blowout win.
By the Numbers
Jeff Planutis scored 23 points to lead the way in the game on 10-13 shooting while adding nine rebounds to his line. The senior recorded 20 points or more in a game for the fifth time this season, continuing to show himself as one of the top scorers in the conference. He was helped by Aidan Reichert who had 15 points off the bench to go along with six rebounds while Nicholas Lang also finished with 15 to go along with his five assists and six rebounds. The Lakers have proven to be more of a second-half team, but this one went a little differently as the team shot 18-28 (65.3%) from the field through the first 20 minutes and hit seven of their 13 attempts from deep. Mercyhurst's defense in the early going proved to be as stellar as their offense as they allowed only 17 points while Slippery Rock shot only 7-26 (26.9%) from the field. It is the third time this season that Head Coach Gary Manchel's crew has allowed less than 20 points in an opening period, allowing just 15 against Roberts Wesleyan and 16 against D'Youville.
What's Next
Mercyhurst prepares for two more games next week with Cal (Pa.) and Gannon on the docket. The Lakers hit the road to face the Vulcans in a midweek matchup on Wednesday, January 18th, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. After that, Mercyhurst hosts their cross-town rivals, Gannon, on Saturday with the two teams set to begin things at 7:30 p.m.
