Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst men's basketball played in one of their more exciting games of the season Wednesday night as cross-town rivals Gannon came to the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. The Lakers found themselves down at the half by 10, but battled all the way back over the final 20 minutes before a late Golden Knight run sealed the win.

How it Happened

Gannon got off to a fast start, jumping out to a five-point lead in the three and half minutes. The Golden Knights got up and down the court quickly and managed to cause a couple of turnovers to help them to a 5-0 lead before the Lakers got going thanks to a three-point make from Jeff Planutis for the first Mercyhurst points of the game at the 17:25 mark followed by a layup Aidan Reichert to make it 7-5 before a made Gannon triple. The Golden Knights then went on a 10-3 run afterwards as their defensive intensity caused major issues with the score reading 20-8 with just over 12 minutes to go in the first half.

The Lakers fought hard try and keep pace with their counterparts over the course of the next several minutes as their offense began to pick up. Planutis got going for Mercyhurst with him scoring nine points in the just over 11 minutes expired from the first half clock with the final of his first three buckets made it 26-16 in favor of the Golden Knights. Despite the better offensive effort from Mercyhurst, Gannon matched them and stayed in front by at least eight until another made shot from deep by Planutis made it 29-23 with just over five minutes to go in the half.

From there, the two teams played each other even through the final few minutes on their way to a score of 41-31 at the break.

The Lakers came out of the break as the aggressors and went on an 16-4 to begin the second half to help them make it a 47-46 game with just under 17 minutes to go. It was their work from in close that helped them close the gap with five of their first seven makes coming from within the paint. The team hit two shots from long range in that stretch with both coming courtesy of Alexander Parks with the second giving the Lakers the one-point lead. From there, the two teams battled back-and-forth.

Over the course of the next several minutes the two teams played each other even with there being five ties and one lead change with the lead for neither team surpassing two. The Lakers started to find their groove and remained in the lead for over four minutes with them seeming to have an answer for everything their counterpart was able to do. The Lakers continued to look inside for a lot of their points with forward Luke Triggs doing a lot of the heavy lifting, finishing with 17 points in the second half. 

After a three from the Golden Knights at the 6:13 mark of the second half, they followed that up with a fast break layup to help them reclaim the lead, 67-66, with just under six minutes to go. That five-point swing for Gannon helped give them the momentum they needed down the stretch as they ended up taking control in the final couple of minutes with 10 points in the final two minutes to secure the six-point win.

Highlights

Triggs finished with 22 points in the contest to help him set a new career-high for points in a game, eclipsing his 21 against Pitt-Johnstown in early January. The native of Gainesville, Va. shot 9-13 from the field with one of those coming from deep while hitting a trio of free throws to go along with two blocks and one steal. He was joined in the 20-point club by Jeff Planutis who finished with 21 on an 8-17 shooting night with a trio of triples and a team-high seven assists and two steals.

Next Game

The Lakers go on the road for their next contest with the team traveling to California, Pa. to see the Vulcans on Saturday, February 24th, at 3:00 p.m.