MERCYHURST (7–10,2–2 NEC) vs STONEHILL (5–12, 2–2 NEC)
Saturday, January 17 – 2:00 p.m. EST
Mercyhurst Athletic Center, Erie, Pa.
TV: NECFrontRow

The Mercyhurst men's basketball team will return back home Saturday for midday NEC play as they host Stonehill. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. Mercyhurst will return home to host the Skyhawks after a long weekend away in New York City where they met NEC opponents LIU and Wagner. The Lakers and Skyhawks will meet for the third time in the program's history, with live coverage available on NECFrontRow.

Last Time Out
Mercyhurst most recently met NEC foe Wagner Saturday, January 10, as they traveled to the big apple for a series of conference matchups. The Lakers and Seahawks played a competitive matchup, the lead changing 15 times and the score being tied seven times in the forty minutes of play. Ultimately the Lakers were able to edge the Seahawks by just a single point, winning 70-69.

The Lakers shot 49.0% from the field and 38.5% from three, but free throws made the difference as the Lakers shot 81.0% from the charity stripe, while Wagner shot 56.3% from the line.

Bernie Blunt III was the difference maker for the Lakers shooting 50.0% from the field, scoring a team-high 23 points, and making 10-10 free throws. Blunt III ended the midday matchup with four rebounds and three assists.

Qadir Martin and Sean Lang were the difference makers defensively for Mercyhurst. Martin grabbed a career-high six blocks and scored 11 points in front of his hometown crowd, shooting 62.5% from the field. Lang posted a career, game, and team-high eight rebounds in his 20 minutes on the court.

Laker Leaders
Blunt III is third in the NEC in points per game averaging 16.4. He is fifth in FG% averaging 45.6%, second in free throw% averaging 82.9%, and is eighth in 3-PT field goals per game averaging 2.1.

Jake Lemelman is eighth in the NEC in assists averaging 2.8 per game. Lemelman is also seventh in steals averaging 1.4 per game.

Martin is first in the NEC in blocks averaging 2.5 per game and is ninth in rebounds averaging 6.2 per game.

As a team, Mercyhurst averages 66.8 points per game, shooting 45.1% from the field and 31.2% from three. The Lakers average 14.29  assists per game and forces 13.9  turnovers per contest, while also posting 4.1 blocks and 8.1 steals per game on the defensive end. The Lakers sit at number one in the NEC for turnover margin with +3.18 and first in defense FG% at 66.6%. Mercyhurst is also second in turnovers only allowing 10.5 turnovers per game.
 
The Matchup: Stonehill
Stonehill is coached by Chris Kraus who is in his 13th season with the Skyhawks and has an overall record of 168- 172. He is also a Stonehill basketball alumn, and before graduating in 2006, led the Skyhawks as a senior point guard in the Elite 8.

The Skyhawks enter Saturday's matchup with a 5-12 overall record and 2-2 mark in NEC play after splitting their two conference matchups last week 1-1, finding a win against Chicago State at home 85-82, and being served a loss by CCSU. Their first week of NEC play mirrored a lot of other teams in the conference, going 1-1, losing to New Haven 55-70 and finding their first conference win at Wagner, 69-60.

The Skyhawks played a competitive non-conference schedule, finding only three wins in their 13 non-conference matchups. They currently sit tied with five other teams in the NEC Standings at 2-2. Stonehill has the highest rebound margin in the NEC, sitting at 4.9. They are last in the NEC in turnover margin and steals per game but sit in top four in the 3-point FG%, blocks per game, scoring defense, FG% defense, and 3FG% defense categories.

The Skyhawks are led in points per game by sophomore guard Hermann Koffi who averages 14.7 points per game, 42.5% from the floor and 42.1% from three. He is eighth in the NEC in FG%, is first in the NEC in 3-PT FG% and 3-PT FG per game averaging 3.1 per game.

Ridvan Tutic leads Stonehill in rebounds averaging 8.1 per game. This stat puts him at third overall in the NEC. Tutic also leads the Skyhawks in FG% shooting 59.1% from the field and averaging 8.3 points per game.

Senior Guard Rex Sutherland is sixth in the NEC in assists averaging 3.5 per game. Chas Stinson sits at fourth in the NEC in blocked shots averaging 1.3 per game.

The Lakers and Skyhawks have met three times in program history. The teams met last season on January 3 where the Lakers found a win at home 76-69, and February 15 where the Skyhawks found a win at home 85-73. These were the teams' first official meetings but this was not the first time the Lakers traveled to Stonehill, as the Lakers found themselves competing in the Stonehill Coca-Cola Tip-Off Classic in 2005, where they faced Malloy and Felician.