Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst men's basketball opens up conference play with their first two games in the month of December as the team heads east to see East Stroudsburg on Friday, December 1st, followed by a 3:00 p.m. tip-off with Kutztown the following day.
Conference Crushers
Mercyhurst has seen their fair share of success against PSAC opponents here in recent year, holding a record of 35-9 over the course of the past two seasons, finishing top three in the PSAC West in each of those years and look to do more of the same this time around. During the last two years, the Lakers have won three or more consecutive conference games on five occasions with two separate winning streak of five games. The team has fared very well when going on the road against PSAC teams well with a record of 17-5 since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, winning each of their last six.
Earning Hardware
In their last week of competition, the Lakers captured their first PSAC weekly award of the 2023-24 season with Jeff Planutis being named the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week. In three games, Planutis had five steals to go along with a pair of blacks with both coming against D'Youville on 11/19/23. Planutis leads the Lakers and is first in the conference in steals with 12, having at least one in every game to this point in the season. His efforts have got beyond his work on defense as he leads the team in points per game, (15.1) with a team-high 3.0 assists per game to go along with 4.3 rebounds.
Scouting East Stroudsburg
The Warriors have been perfect to this point in the season, going 4-0 to this point with a win over D'Youville in their last game. ESU will be itching to play within their friendly confines Friday afternoon with it serving as the team's home opener after spending time in North Carolina to begin the season followed by trips to New York with each of those trips being fruitful as they sit at 4-0 coming into the new month. The team does not rely on any one scorer to do all the work with Tyshawn Trail's 12.5 points per game leading the way. He is followed by Lake McAliley who average 12.3 to go along with 9.3 rebound while Nasir Griffin rounds out the double-digit scores, averaging 11.0.
Scouting the Golden Bears
 Kutztown is 1-4 to this point in the season with their long win coming in their season opener in the PSAC/CIAA Challenge on November 10th in an 84-75 win over Elizabeth City state. The team's defense has not been their strong suit with them allowing 80 or more points in three of their last four with 110 against them on November 21st when they traveled to see Goldey-Beacom. The Lakers will need to focus on Jalen Bryant on offense as he averages a team-high 22.2 points on a 45.5/25.0/87.0 shooting split, shooting a staggering 54 free throws through just five games to this point.
Next Game
The Lakers return home after opening PSAC play on the road as they see Fredonia on Saturday, December 9th, followed by a return to conference play when West Chester comes to town on the 18th while Millersville comes in the following day for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off.
