Slippery Rock, Pa. - Mercyhurst Men's Basketball defeats The Rock on road Wednesday night in a 72-57 win. The Lakers grab their fifth straight victory of double-digits as they improve to 18-3 overall and 14-3 in the PSAC thanks to their stellar second half.

How it Happened

First Half

The Lakers started off a bit slow with Slippery Rock jumping out to a 10-7 lead in the opening five minutes of action. Mercyhurst managed to break into double-digits thanks to Nicholas Lang who hit a three off the feed from MiyKah McIntosh as the score held at 15-11 at the 12:45 mark of the first half.

Lang's triple, unfortunately, did not spark a run for the Lakers as they saw their counterparts go on an 11-5 run to make it a 26-16 game with just under nine minutes to go in the frame as The Rock grabbed their first double-digit lead of the game. 

Coach Manchel's crew managed to claw their way back before the halftime break, trailing by two at the end of the half. Michael Bradley proved imperative down the stretch as he scored nine of the team's final 13 points. Five of them came within a 17-second span after he nailed a triple and got a steal on the ensuing Slippery Rock possession for an easy fastbreak layup.

Second Half

The Lakers came out of the locker room as the better team, going on a 15-4 run in the first five minutes of the second canto as they found their rhythm on both ends. The three-point shooting was strong during that span as Mercyhurst hit three with the final coming from MiyKah McIntosh to give his team a 44-39 lead.

Mercyhurst didn't slow down as they managed to grow their advantage out to double figures. The offense had come together for coach Manchel's crew as the team shot 9-14 (64.3%) through the opening 10 minutes of the second half. Bradley continued to lead the way with five points during that run with his 18th, 19th, and 20th of the night coming off an and-one to make it a 56-43 lead with just under 11 minutes remaining.

From that point on, the Lakers kept Slippery Rock at arm's length. The Rock did all they could try and get back in the game, but a strong defensive effort from Mercyhurst to go along with timely shooting helped them pull out the 72-57 win in enemy territory. 

Highlights

Michael Bradley led the way with 22 points on 9-19 shooting while hitting a trio of treys. He was much more than just a scorer in this one as he also grabbed five rebounds and had seven assists. Nicholas Lang followed Bradley with 15 points on 5-8 shooting and three triples also while MiyKah McIntosh (11) and Jeff Planutis (10) both scored in double figures as well. Pipeloluwa Ajayi proved to be a force on the boards once again. After setting a new career-high in his previous game against IUP with 14, he pulled down 11 rebounds in this one to lead the game 

Playoff Picture

With this win, the Lakers move into sole possession of second place in the PSAC West while securing their spot in the PSAC Tournament. They hope to continue their winning ways and close the gap between them and IUP who sits in first over the final few weeks of the regular season.

Next Game

The Lakers get back within their friendly confines for their next game as they are set to take on Cal (Pa.) this Saturday as Mercyhurst and the Vulcans are set to begin things at 7:30 p.m.