Buffalo, N.Y. - Mercyhurst rounded out the November portion of their schedule with a loss Sunday afternoon, falling to D'Youville. The Lakers found themselves in the middle of a back-and-forth fight with the Saints able to claim enough of the momentum at the end to grab the win, 62-58.
How it Happened
The two teams started the game playing each other even as the lead was never above three through the first five minutes of action. A 6-0 run for the Lakers helped them begin to move out in front a bit as they took a 12-8 lead into the first media timeout as the run by Mercyhurst was fueled by their work inside with all three made field goals being layups.
The run by the Lakers, unfortunately, did not spark anything more for Mercyhurst with D'Youville eventually taking the lead back. Coach Manchel's offense fell cold which allowed the Saints to be able to keep pace with them reclaiming the lead with just over nine minutes to go in the opening half of play after a made layup and free throw made it 16-14. D'Youville was able to build their lead all the way up to seven after a three-point make at the 4:38 mark of the period, 25-18. A made layup from Luke Triggs and a triple from Jeff Planutis helped the Lakers close the gap and make it a 25-23 game before going into the halftime down 33-25.
The Lakers did not allow the Saints to to stay in front by so much for long, going on a 6-0 run to begin the second half and make it a 33-31 game with just over 17 minutes to go in the game. Mercyhurst continued to chip away at the deficit with them eventually taking their first lead of the game at the 14:37 mark of the second. It was a driving dunk from Planutis off the feed from Aidan Reichert that gave the Lakers the lead, capping off a 13-4 run and make it a 38-37 score.
The two teams played each other even from there with D'Youville eventually taking the lead with just over nine minutes to go, 45-44. The Saints were able claim enough of the momentum after taking the lead to help them keep the Lakers at arm's length the rest of the way. Mercyhurst was able to hit a few shots down the stretch to keep them in the game, but they could never climb all the way back in the four-point loss.
Highlights
Sean Fullerton led the way in points with 17, shooting 7-11 from the floor while going a perfect 3-3 from deep to go along with a pair of steals. He was joined in double figured by Aidan Reichert who had 15 and Jeff Planutis who finished with 11. Reichert was the leading rebounder for the Lakers with 10 to his ledger to help him record his first double-double of the season while Planutis had night boards and proved to be active on defense as well, registering two blocks and two steals.
Next Game
The Lakers take some time off before their next game as they do not play again in the month of November. Mercyhurst goes back out on the road for their next matchup as they see East Stroudsburg on Friday, December 1st, in a 5:00 p.m. tip-off.
