Kutztown, Pa. - Mercyhurst was able to split in the opening weekend of PSAC play, defeating Kutztown 82-72. Jeff Planutis proved to be the driving force for Mercyhurst in this one with 39 points to his line in the nine-point win.
How it Happened
The Lakers started off hot with the first three made baskets of the game, jumping out in front 8-0 thanks in large part to Max Jusianiec who had six of those eight points with him nailing a pair of threes. Kutztown had a rebuttal for the early deficit and managed to go on a 9-0 to go ahead by one off of a made triple at the 15:35 mark of the opening frame, showing this one would be highly contested in the early going.
Th next several minutes were back-and-forth with neither team able to take control. It was not until there was under 10 minutes to go in the opening half that the tide shift in favor of the Golden Bears. The Laker's counterpart was able to secure a 10-point lead, 32-22 with 7:05 to go until the break, but Mercyhurst managed to fight back before going to the locker room. The team outscored Kutztown 19-5 through the remainder of the frame with their Jeff Planutis being the driving force behind the run with 11 of those 18 points, giving him 22 for the first half to make it 43-37 lead for the Lakers going into the break.
Mercyhurst kept their hot streak up when they returned to the court, scoring each of the first two baskets thanks to a layup from Aidan Reichert and a made triple from Sean Fullerton. Kutztown showed they were going to put up a fight in the early going of the second half, but the Lakers seemed to have an answer for whatever their opponent threw at them and were able to keep the Golden Bears at arm's length, going into the under 12 timeout ahead 63-53.
From there, Mercyhurst continued to play well with the lead with their advantage never dipping below nine. The Golden Bears tried to shoot their way back into things, but could ever quite do so in the 82-73 final.
Highlights
Jeff Planutis finished with a new career-high in points with 39, shooting 10-19 from the floor while hitting six of his 11 three and going a perfect 13-13 from the free throw line. His 39 points is the most since Lorenzo Collier's 39 in the 2017-18 season against Edinboro. The 13 made free throws by Planutis is the most since Collier's 14 in the 2017-18 and is the first time a Laker has made double-digit shots from the stripe since 2021-22. He was followed by Adam Bilinsky who had 12 points on a 5-9 effort from the floor while Aidan Reichert finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Next Game
Mercyhurst comes back to their friendly confines for the next game as they are set to play Fredonia State in an exhibition this upcoming Saturday, December 9th, at 2:00 p.m.
