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| Lakers' Iddo Cohen blocks a shot during Thursday's game against Northwood. | |||
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Men's basketball stays in GLIAC hunt with two wins on weekend
By Christine Mersch Staff writer The Mercyhurst men’s basketball team delivered gut-wrenching play this past weekend, rallying back from double-digit halftime deficits to earn two key GLIAC victories at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. On Saturday Mercyhurst overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) 67-66. The win came two days after the Lakers (12-10, 6-6 GLIAC) rallied from a 12-point deficit to beat Northwood University, 74-68, in overtime. In Saturday’s match-up against SVSU (8-12, 3-9 GLIAC), senior T.J. Mathis was the spark for Mercyhurst, who earned its fourth consecutive victory with the win. Trailing 58-53, Mathis scored on the next two Laker possessions, bringing them within one. Junior Brian McTear then drilled a 3-pointer to put Mercyhurst up 60-58. Saginaw stayed in the game by hitting its foul shots and regained the lead 61-60. Senior Terry Smith answered with one of his five 3-pointers. Saginaw tied the game at 63 with less than 40 seconds left. Holding the ball for the Lakers’ last shot, Mathis, scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half, and sank a jumper with less than five seconds left to put the Lakers up for good. Then he forced a turnover with two seconds remaining, as Saginaw was inbounding the ball. Several Lakers provided outstanding play. Smith, who hit three of his five 3-pointers in the final seven minutes of play, led Mercyhurst with 23 points. Mathis finished with 17 and McTear scored nine. Sophomore Ryann Bradford chipped in eight and had six rebounds. "Teams don’t know who to focus on," said McTear. "You can go to either one of us. We all can come through in clutch situations." Two days earlier, Mercyhurst had a thrilling comeback win against Northwood University. The Lakers rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit. Trailing by two with 10 seconds left in regulation, Smith sank two free throws to send the game into overtime. In overtime, Mathis once again came up big scoring six points, leading the squad to a 74-68 overtime victory. Mercyhurst fell behind early but used its improved defense to battle back into the contest. With a little over a minute remaining in the game, McTear scored three to cut the lead to 60-58. On the next possession, freshman Anthony Terry stole the ball from Northwood’s Tony Marcotullio, setting up a fast-break bucket by Bradford, tying the game at 60. Northwood answered with a lay-up. Smith then hit his two free throws to send the game into overtime. Both teams traded baskets in the first few minutes. With the game tied at 68, Mercyhurst’s Iddo Cohen blocked a Northwood shot. He then blocked another with seconds remaining, and Mathis and McTear put the game away with four free throws. Head coach Gary Manchel was very proud of his team after this weekend’s games. "It’s so rewarding to me that what we’ve talked about and what I’ve preached and what I’ve been so hard on them about seems to be paying dividends," Manchel said. The Lakers return to action Thursday, Feb. 7 against Wayne
State at the Mercyhurst |
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