Rochester, N.Y. - Mercyhurst men's basketball recorded their first win of the week against Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday, 69-67. After falling behind by double figures in the first half, the Lakers managed to climb back and secure the win thanks to a last-second tip in from Jeff Planutis.
How it Happened
Mercyhurst came out of the gates as the aggressors and were able to be the first team to 10. Planutis proved to be a big factor in the early going with five of the team's points while a made three-point shot from freshman Adam Bilinsky was the one that put the Lakers into double-digits at the 15:42 mark of the opening half, 10-4. Roberts Wesleyan managed to battle back, though, and eventually claimed their first lead of the opening half with 11:28 to go in the frame thanks to an and-one layup with the free throw making it 14-13.
The two teams played eachother even over the course of the next several minutes of play before the Redhawks began to take control. A Bilinksy layup made it 29-25 with 3:39 to go in the opening half of play with Roberts Wesleyan in front. From here, RWC went on a 10-3 run to close out the canto with a pair of made three pointers making the difference and helping the Redhawks take a 10-point lead into the locker room.
Mercyhurst did not allow the deficit to stay in double figures for long with the team going on a 9-0 in the early going of the second half fueled by a pair of layups from Aidan Reichert with the last one making it a 41-39 score with just over 15 minutes to go in the game. Reichert then helped Mercyhurst claim their first lead of the second half on a jumper, making it a 44-43 game.
After the Redhawks went on a run to build their lead back out to nine with just under nine minutes left int he game, Mercyhurst once against started to chip away and try to pull in front as the clock continued to wind down. The team eventually tied things on a layup from Bilinsky, 60-60, at the 3:43 mark of the second half. After a few empty possessions from the Redhawks, Reichert hit four clutch free throws to help Mercyhurst jump in front, 64-61 with just under two minutes to go.
From there, a triple from Max Jusianiec helped make it a 67-61 game before a three by Roberts Wesleyan helped them pull within three, 67-64. Another three points came for RWC the hard way with an and-one to tie things up, looking to send things into overtime. Reichert tried a layup to win the game for the Lakers in the last few seconds, but the ball came off the rim with Jeff Planutis there to clean up the miss and make it a 69-67 score with one second left. A last second heave from the Redhawks ended up not coming together as the Lakers made it out of Rochester with the win.
Highlights
Aidan Reichert led the way for the Lakers with 23 points on 7-12 shooting, hitting eight free throws for a new career-high while having seven rebounds. Freshman Adam Bilinksy joined his Laker teammate in double figures with 16, shooting 6-12 from the floor on the day while knocking down a pair of three-point shots.
Next Game
Mercyhurst returns to action tomorrow with the team set to travel to take on the Saints of D'Youville with the two teams tipping things off at 2:00 p.m.
