Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst Men's Basketball was named the three-seed in the Atlantic Region for the NCAA DII Men's Basketball National Tournament and is now set to see East Stroudsburg in the opening round. The Lakers and Warriors see each other on Saturday, March 11th, at noon on the campus of IUP to get things started.
1. Turning Things Around
The Lakers have not found a lot of success against East Stroudsburg in the past as they hold a 3-9 line all-time against their counterparts. Coach Manchel and company's last win over the Warriors came at IUP in the 2018-19 PSAC semifinals by a final of 67-64 and they'll look for similar success this time around inside the Kovalchick Athletic Complex.
2. The First Step
Mercyhurst has found success in the opening round of the national tournament here of late with them winning each of their last three tournament openers. They defeated Millersville 71-65 a year ago after defeating Fairmont State the year before 62-58 while defeating the Falcons again back during the 2018-19 campaign in an overtime 63-60 victory. They hope to keep their strong play in the early portion of the bracket alive and dance their way to the final site for the first time in five years.
3. Bouncing Back
After falling to IUP in the PSAC Championship, coach Manchel's crew looks to avoid a second straight loss this upcoming Saturday against East Stroudsburg. The Lakers have a history of bouncing back as they have avoided back-to-back defeats for each of the past two full seasons with the last instance coming during the 2019-20 season when they fell to Slippery Rock 62-52 and then Cal (Pa.) 69-51.
4. Well Represented
The Lakers were one of four teams from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference to be named in the Atlantic Region bracket for the tournament. The others listed were IUP who takes the top spot while East Stroudsburg is sixth and UPJ seventh, giving the PSAC four horses in the race for the most of any conference in the region. West Liberty and Fairmont State represent the MEC while the CIAA has the four-seed in Virginia Union and the eighth seed, Winston-Salem.
5. Scouting the Warriors
East Stroudsburg comes into the matchup 23-8 after going 15-7 in the PSAC during the regular season, good enough for third in the PSAC East. They were the top offensive team in the conference, averaging 87.6 points per game which also ranks in the top 10 nationally, sitting in ninth. The team's leading scorer has been Carlos Pepin who averages 17.2 points on 54.3% from the field to go along with 9.0 rebounds a game. He is followed by Lakeem McAilley who averages 16.7 points on a 58.5/41.1/84.0 shooting split, making for a dynamic scoring duo.
