Manhattan, NY.- The Mercyhurst Lakers saw their three-game win streak end on Saturday when they traveled to Manhattan for a battle with Columbia University. The Lions pulled away at the end to secure a 77-63 victory over the Lakers.
 
How it Happened:
Columbia's Kenny Noland kicked things off just 30 seconds into the game after he knocked down a three-pointer for the Lions. The Lakers answered quick as Senior Aidan Reichert knocked down a quick jumper. Two possessions later, Graduate Student Jeff Planutis gave Mercyhurst their lone lead of the game on a breakaway dunk. Columbia went on a 13-3 run that spanned five minutes after Freshman Mykolaus Ivanauskas hit a three-pointer to tie the game at seven. A five-point swing at the end of the first 20 minutes of play helped Mercyhurst bring things back to within seven points, as they went into the half down 43-36.
 
Mercyhurst came out for the second half looking to work their way back into the game, but it seemed that every time that scored, the Lions had an answer. At the 13-minute mark, Ivanauskas was able to help the Lakers make it a four-point game as a layup made the score 51-47. Another run helped the Lions pulled though. A Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa three-pointer helped to cap off a 12-3 run to make it a 63-50 game. Mercyhurst was only able to score 13 more points in the final 10 minutes of action, with five of them coming off of free throws from Graduate Student Shemar Rathan-Mayes.
 
Highlights:
Mercyhurst continues to see production from all over the court, as Planutis had his fourth game with double-digit points in the first five games. But it was Reichert who has had his best game of the season so far in New York. Reichert dropped 19 points as he hit on 50% of shots from the field in the contest. Reichert also tallied five rebounds and three assists. Freshman Jake Lemelman also continues to impress as he hit on five of his eight shots to finish with 13 points.
 
Next Game:
Mercyhurst will return home for one game before they head out West for a four-game road trip. They'll host Mount Aloysius on Tuesday, November 19^th at 7:00 p.m. The action can all be caught on the NEC Front Row.
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