Johnstown, Pa. - Mercyhurst men's basketball ended their week on a high note with a win on the road over the Mountain Cats. The Lakers used a strong offensive performance over the course of 40 minutes to help them stay in front of their counterpart on their way to the 88-73 win.
How it Happened
The Lakers came out of the gates hot as they jumped out to a 16-7 lead within the first seven minutes of play in enemy territory. It was their work from long range that helped them build out their lead as four of their first six makes came from beyond the three-point line. Alexander Parks had two of those makes, scoring eight of the first 16 points to help the freshman off to a strong start. The other two triples came courtesy of sophomores Sean Fullerton and Christian Gamble with Gamble's being the final one of the run, giving the Lakers the nine-point lead.
The offense for the Lakers did no dissipate as the first has started to come to a close as they managed to shoot well, going 17-31 (54.5%) from the floor through the first 20 minutes of play while nailing eight of their three-point attempts. Because of their hot shooting, Mercyhurst managed to get their lead into double-digits and keep it above nine for the majority of the frame. UPJ ended up going on a run and trimmed the lead to six as the score stood at 35-29 with 3:07 left in the half. The Lakers did not allow things to get any closer though, rattling off a 9-2 run to close out the frame with back-to-back makes from James Thomas closing out the frame and making it 44-31 at the break.
The second half was more of the same on offense for Mercyhurst as they scored 44 points on a 15-31 shooting effort while knocking down another eight triples. Despite the strong offensive effort, the Mountain Cats were not willing to give in, finding their groove as well. UPJ ended up scoring 42 points in the second half to keep pace with their counterparts with many of those makes from coming in close. The team had 16 made shots from the field over the course of the second half with 13 of them coming within the arc while going 7-8 from the free throw line. Despite them finding an answer on offense, they could never slow down the Laker's attack.
The two team's traded buckets for much of the second canto with neither team facing a cold stretch from the floor. Because of that, the Laker's lead never dipped into single digits while never being more than 20. Every time the Mountain Cats looked to go on a run, fueled by a big make, Mercyhurst was right their with a response to help them escape enemy territory with the 15-point win.
Highlights
The 88 points scored by the Lakers were the third-most in a single game this season with only the team's 100 against Fredonia and the 93 they put on Frostburg State being more. It marks the fifth time this year Mercyhurst has scored 80 or more points while their 16 made threes are the most in a game this campaign and being the most since they sunk 17 against Gannon in the 2022-23 regular season finale when the Lakers scored 105. Freshman Alexander Parks led the way in scoring with 23 points, going 9-17 from the floor and hitting five three-point shots. His 23 points are a new career-high for the native of Cincinnati, Oh. as are his nine made field goals and five made threes. He also added six assists and three steals to his line, making for a performance he won't soon forget. He was followed Jeff Planutis who had 19 points for a 13th straight game with 10 or more points to go along with four assists and a steal. Sean Fullerton and Christian Gamble rounded out the Lakers with 10 or more points, shooting a combined 9-15 from the floor with Fullerton recording 16 while Gamble finished with 10.
Next Game
The Lakers return to action this upcoming week in a mid-week matchup with Indiana (Pa.). Mercyhurst hosts the Crimson Hawks in that contests as IUP comes to town on Wednesday, February 7th, in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
