Box Score Indiana, Pa. - The Lakers went on the road to Indiana, Pa. to see the Crimson Hawks in the first round of the conference tournament, falling 69-54. Hot starts to both the first and second half did not give the team the type of push they were hoping for in the 15-point defeat.
How it Happened
Mercyhurst won the opening tip and wasted no time putting points on the board as Aidan Reichert came down and nailed a three pointer to open the game. Reichert then hit his second on the team's next possession to make it a quick 6-2 lead for the Lakers, hoping to use that to propel them in enemy territory. The Crimson Hawks did not stay down for long, thouhg, with five straight points thanks to a jumper in the lane along with a made three to make it 7-6 with 18:20 to go in the first.
The two teams battled back-and-forth over the course of the next few minutes with the lead for either team never getting to above five. After hitting a pair from deep in the early going, the Lakers looked to use their three-point shooting to help them keep pace with their counterpart as both Jeff Planutis and Luke Triggs nailed a trey with Triggs' coming second to make it 17-15 at the 14:42 mark.
After that, Mercyhurst's offense went on a dry spell, scoring just five points the rest of the half. IUP ended up capitalizing on the cold streak to help them take a 32-22 lead into the halftime break.
Similar to the first half, the Lakers started out as the aggressors and scored eight of the first 11 points to help make it a five-point game 35-30. The team looked to go inside with their shots early on with each of their first three makes being layups before a jumper from Reichert ended up being the first of their makes from outside the paint. Despite the strong run, they could not quite make it all the way back with a pair of made three-point shots helping IUP remain in front as the score stood at 39-30 at the 15:56 mark.
The Crimson Hawks were able to extend their lead over the next several minutes and move their advantage into double-digits. IUP began into get in an offensive rhythm and saw five of six shots fall with the final of that run being a three-point shot that put the score at 54-38 with 8:19 remaining in the game. From there, Mercyhurst fought hard to try and cut into the deficit, but the Crimson Hawks seemed to have an answer for every Laker make to end the game in the 69-54 loss.
Highlights
Jeff Planutis finished with the team-high in points with 16 points, knocking down five shots while going 5-6 from the free throw line. He was joined in double figures by Luke Triggs who had 11 and Aidan Reichert with 10 to go along with a team-high eight rebounds and two steals.
