Erie, Pa.- Mercyhurst closed their first ever Division I season in dominating fashion Thursday night as they took down Chicago State 90-68. Graduate Student Jeff Planutis dropped 32 points to put a bow on his collegiate career at Mercyhurst and he helped Mercyhurst eclipse 90 points for just second time in the 2024-2025 season.


 
How it Happened:
The Lakers were hot from beyond the arc all night and they wasted no time taking shots from deep. Mercyhurst's first seven made field goals were from three point range, and it helped them jump out to a 21-11 lead just seven minutes into action. Senior Bernie Blunt III and Planutis accounted for three each in the opening barrage. Over the next five minutes of play, Mercyhurst continued to pull away and a Deshaun Jackson Jr. jumper helped push their lead to 17 points. But Jalen Forrest was almost single handedly keeping Chicago State in the ball game. He knocked down a pair of threes and a jumper in a span of four minutes to pull the deficit back down to 12. But Planutis continued to sink shots from deep and another pair of three pointers helped the Lakers walk into the half with a 48-37 lead.


 
It continued to feel like Mercyhurst could score at will in the second half. Through five minutes of play in the second, Mercyhurst was hitting on 50% of their shots and Senior Aidan Reichert helped to extend the lead to 58-44. Just as Chicago State thought they had found life though, Mercyhurst turned the ball game upside down after they once again got hot from three point range. A pair of three pointer from Planutis and one from Freshman Jake Lemelman made the score 77-57. Chicago State would get back to with 18 points over the rest of the game and with the game already decided, Planutis and Reichert got subbed out with a minute to go and got a well-deserved standing ovation to close out their Mercyhurst basketball careers.
 
Highlights:
Mercyhurst officially closed their first ever Division I campaign with a bang on Thursday night. The Lakers close their first ever season in the NEC with a 9-7 conference record. Planutis closed his Laker career with a season-high 32 points and a career-high 10 three pointers. Reichert finished the season with 426 total points after his 14-point performance. There were six occasions where he didn't score at least 10 points in the 2024-2025 season. Blunt also finishes the season with an average of 12 points per game.
 
Next Game:
Mercyhurst officially concluded the 2024-2025 season. The Lakers will be back on the court for year two in the NEC this November.
 
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