Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst men's basketball opened up the 2024 portion of their season schedule at home for their first two games, winning both to move to 8-7 on the season. They now go away from their friendly confines for one game as they go to see IUP on Wednesday, January 10th, for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against a Crimson Hawk team who is flying high of late.
Looking for History
Head Coach Gary Manchel won his eighth game of the season in the team's last game with their 64-57 defeat over Pitt-Johnstown helping him move to 496 wins all time. Manchel entered the season with 488 wins to he ledger to begin the season with 358 of those coming during his 21 years manning the helm for the Lakers for the most by any coach in program history. He holds a .638 winning percentage over the course of his time with the Lakers, helping them to seven seasons of 20 or more wins with four of those instances coming in the last five years while owning a 12-1 record during the shortened 2020-21 season. The three-time PSAC West Coach of the Year has had an illustrious career to this point and looks to add one more feather to his cap and cement his legacy on the sidelines.
Laker Leaders
Jeff Planutis has been the team's top scorer to this point in the season as he averages 17.3 points per game on a 43.7/38.1/82.8 shooting splat. He is joined in double figures by both Sean Fullerton and Aidan Reichert with Fullerton averaging 11.9 while Reichert has an average off 11.1 to go ho along with his team-leading 5.2 rebounds per game. Planutis has been more than just the leading scorer as he also leads to the team in assists (2.7) and steals (1.5) per game while Fullerton and Max Jusianiec are tied for the team-lead in blocks with 0.4 apiece. Luke Triggs currently leads the team in field goal percentage, shooting 61.1% from the floor with Fullerton's 46.3% effort from deep is tops on the team while Planutis' 82.8 clip from the charity stripe is the best.
Looking for Luke
Sophomore forward Luke Triggs has gotten off to the kind of start he and the rest of his team hoped for in 2024. In two games of action, Triggs has averaged 18.5 points per game while shooting 77.2% (17-22) from the field. The native of Gainesville, Va. scored career-highs in back-to-back games as he recorded 16 points against Bloomsburg on January 3rd before a 21-point outburst against Pitt-Johnstown this past weekend, adding six rebounds to his line to tie his season-high that came against Fredonia in the early part of December. Triggs' strong play has been a major lift for the Lakers recently and he looks to continue to make an impact as the season goes along.
Scouting IUP
The Crimson Hawks are 8-4 to this point in the season overall while holding a 5-1 mark in the PSAC to help them claim second in the West. The team had been rolling, winning six-straight before the holiday break, but fell to East Stroudsburg on the 30th of December by 17 before a 30-point win over Shepherd to begin 2024. IUP has proven to be tough on their home floor so far this season as they are 6-3 inside the Kovalchick Convention & Athletic Complex. The Crimson Hawks have had a steady offensive attack from four players all year with a quartet averaging 14 points or more with Ethan Porterfield leading the way with his 18.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, making him a threat to make an impact in a myriad of ways.
Next Game
Mercyhurst takes some time off before their next game as they are not scheduled to play again until Wednesday, January 17th, when they take on Edinboro inside the Mercyhurst Athletic Center in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
