Indiana, Pa. - Mercyhurst Men's Basketball saw their season come to an end in the second round of the NCAA Men's Basketball National Tournament as they fell to the Hilltoppers. WLU used a strong second half to pull out the victory as they won by a final of 86-72.

How it Happened

First Half

Mercyhurst opened up the game as the aggressors, scoring the first eight points of the game thanks to their work in close. That, and a Pipeloluwa Ajayi block, forced West Liberty to call a timeout before they could score.

The Hilltoppers were able to roar back, though, going on an 8-2 run to pull within two with just over 15 minutes to go in the first half. Mercyhurst went on a run of their own as they saw their lead balloon to eight after a rebound and dunk from Ajayi.

West Liberty started to knock down shots, but the Lakers seemed to always have a rebuttal down the stretch of the opening canto. Back-to-back layups from Jeff Planutis gave Mercyhurst their first double-digit lead of the game as they found themselves ahead 25-15 with just over nine minutes to go before the halftime break. From there, the Hilltoppers battled to take a 37-34 lead at halftime.

Second Half

West Liberty came out of the break and was able to take control, going on an 11-6 run to begin the frame and take a 48-40 lead into the first media timeout. Mercyhurst's six points came courtesy of their work from deep with the first triple coming from MiyKah McIntosh, his third of the game.

The two teams weren't willing to give in as WLU outscored Mercyhurst by only four through the first eight minutes of the stanza. After hitting only two three-point shots in the first half, the Lakers knocked down three going into the under-12 timeout as they began to feel it from deep with Jeff Planutis' trey making it 49-53 with just over 12 minutes left in the game.

Despite the Laker's hot shooting in the second half, West Liberty proved the hotter team as they were able to grab their first double-digit lead of the game with 10:33 on the clock as they found themselves ahead 61-51. Mercyhurst did all they could to keep up with their counterpart the rest of the way, but ultimately fell 86-72.

Highlights

Michael Bradley led the team in points with 20 on a 6-12 line from the floor while going 6-7 from the charity stripe, adding six rebounds, five assists, and one steal to his ledger. MiyKah McIntosh was second on the team in points with 13 with nine of those coming in the second half off of a trio of triples. Nicholas Lang finished with 11 points on a 4-9 line from the floor with six rebounds as well to go along with two assists. Pipeloluwa Ajayi got his second double-double of the season with a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with 10 points and two blocks.