Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst men's basketball secured their second win of the 2024 calendar year Saturday afternoon with their win over Pitt-Johnstown. The Lakers came out of the gates hot and were able to establish a 12-3 lead in the early going, helping them secure a 64-57 win and move to 8-7 on the season.

How it Happened

Mercyhurst was the aggressors out of the gate with them jumping out in front. Jeff Planutis was the driving force behind the Laker's early run as he managed to score the first eight points of the game for Mercyhurst as 10 of their first 12. He began with a trio of made jumpers with two coming from beyond the arc while the final make of that run being a layup off the feed from Sean Lang to make it a 12-3 game with 15:39 to go in the first half. 

After the offense slowed down for both sides, UPJ began to work their way back into the game and pulled within four. The Mountain Cats looked to work the ball inside more with a pair of made free throws made it 20-16 in favor of the Lakers with just under four minutes to go in the half. From there, Coach Manchel's crew went on a 10-3 run to help them take a double-digit lead into the break, 30-19. Luke Triggs got hot from in close as he had six of the team's points in that span, helping make it an 11-point game going into the break.

Triggs picked up right where he left off when play resumed as he scored eight of the Laker's first 10 points of the second half with all eight coming in a row. His efforts helped Mercyhurst begin to extend their lead a little further before a large run for the Lakers made it look like they were going to pull away. Mercyhurst began to see their three-pointers fall in the later stages with them hitting four over the course of a three-minute span starting at the 9:54 mark, helping Mercyhurst to their largest lead of the game at 57-38 with 6:46 remaining after a made triple from Alexander Parks. 

UPJ did not lay down, though, and managed to make it a game in the last few minutes. The Mountain Cats got it all the way down to a six-point deficit, doing so in the final minute of play at 62-56. That was as close as they could get it, though, as Mercyhurst managed to stave off the comeback and grab the seven-point win.

Highlights

Mercyhurst put together a solid defensive effort as they allowed UPJ to shooting only 40.1% from the field, allowing a 6-21 effort (28.6%) from the field in the opening half of play. The Lakers finished with nine steals total in the game for one of their better efforts on defense as it was the fourth-most steals in a single game this season. Jeff Planutis had another great outing as he finished with the team-high in points with 22 on a 9-16 shooting effort with the graduate guard hitting four made threes for a second-straight game. Luke Triggs followed up with 21 to help the sophomore forward set a career-high in points for a second-straight game after having 16 against Bloomsburg on Wednesday. 

Next Game

Mercyhurst goes on the road for their next game as they are scheduled for a mid-week matchup with IUP on Wednesday, January 10th, in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off before coming back home to see Edinboro on the 17th at home at 7:30 p.m.