Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst Men's Basketball gets set to open up the new year as they play a pair of games on the week with Edinboro coming to town on Wednesday, January 4th, while the team travels to take on IUP on Saturday, January 7th.
1. Lucky Number Seven
Mercyhurst has gotten into a real rhythm of late as they have won each of their last six games and look for their seventh straight victory in their contest against the Fighting Scots, hoping to improve to 9-1 on the year. Those half-a-dozen wins for the Lakers have all been convincing victories for the team as all of them have been by 20 points or more while all but one has come by 25 points or more.
2. Where They Stand
IUP currently sits atop the PSAC West standings with a perfect 11-0 record entering the new week with a 5-0 mark in conference play. The Lakers come in right behind them as they currently sit 8-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play, tied with UPJ for second place. Edinboro finds themselves in the middle of the pack in the PSAC West after winning each of their last two conference games. They now sit at 4-6 overall and 2-3 in PSAC play, hoping to continue to move up in the standings.
3. Leading the Way
So far this season, Jeff Planutis leads the Lakers in scoring with 15.6 points per game on 47.4% from the field, 40.0% from three, and 91.4% from the free throw line. Michael Bradley is not far behind at 14.4 points per game with a 48.1/39.0/62.5 shooting split. The team currently has three players averaging six or more rebounds a game with Pipeloluwa Ajayi leading the way at 6.6 while Nicholas Lang is second at 6.3 and Aidan Reichert third at 6.0. On defense, Ajayi is the team's leader in blocks with 1.8 per game while MiyKah McIntosh is the leader in steals with 2.0 per contest.
4. Scouting the Scots
Edinboro comes into the game 4-6 overall and 2-3 against PSAC opponents, winning each of their last two games including a 71-62 win over Bloomsburg last Friday. The Fighting Scot's defense has struggled to this point in the season, allowing the fifth most points in the conference (76.6) while their 46.4% field goal percentage allowed is second worst to only Clarion. The team does not rely on any one player to do all the work on offense as four players average 12 or more points per game with much of that work coming from deep as three of the four shoot 33.3% or higher from three.
5. Scouting IUP
The Crimson Hawks are 11-0 overall and hold a perfect 5-0 record in conference play coming into 2023. They have the best defense in the PSAC to this point in the season as they allow the fewest points per game while holding opponents to the lowest field goal and three-point percentage of any team in the conference. IUP has the top scorer in the conference in Shawndale Jones who averages 20.2 points per game; he's proven to be automatic from the free throw line as he is 63-67 from the charity stripe.
