Men’s basketball season off to good start

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Megan Mckay, Staff writer

The men’s basketball team completed the second game of their season last Friday in an exciting match-up against West Chester University. The last time these two opponents faced off was 2019 when the Golden Rams barely surpassed the Lakers 83-80.

West Chester has already had five out-of-conference games under their belt this season. The Golden Rams currently have a 4-1 record. However, the Lakers returned after two weeks off and dominated West Chester in their first conference game.

The Lakers got out early with a lead thanks to Senior guard Jeff Planutis and Senior guard Michael Bradley who had nine of the 11 points. However, West Chester pulled ahead 44-39 going into the half but with 14 minutes to go in the game, graduate student Nicholas Lang had a triple to tie it 53-53.

In the final minutes, Mercyhurst sealed the victory 81-66.

“The first half wasn’t really going our way, but we regrouped at halftime and held them to 22 points in the second half,” graduate guard MiyKah McIntosh said.

“That showed our character as a team early in the season, and we continue to have a successful season.”

The Lakers second win came after their exciting home opener where they came back from a double digit deficit against Daemen. Bradley was the buzzer beater.

“On the road we didn’t have things going on our way, but we stuck together and fought together as a team. Tonight showed that we can compete with anyone, and it shows our team’s composure,” Bradley said.

Saturday, the Lakers were on the road again against Millersville. They could not, however, complete the weekend sweep however as the Marauders pulled away 84-73.

In a tight game, the Lakers were able to crawl their way back into the lead 57-56 with 11 minutes left. In the final four minutes, Millersville pulled away, giving the Lakers their first loss of the season. Plauntis led the way again for a second-straight game in scoring with 20 points while going 8-8 from the free throw line.

After scoring 22 points against West Chester, Planutis now has back-to-back games of 20 or more points for the first time in his career. He was followed by Bradley who finished with 14 points and three steals.

The Lakers season has only just begun but the team is looking to compete the remainder and win as many games as possible. Both Bradley and McIntosh mentioned that the team’s goals have always been to win a conference and national championship.

The Lakers are home for their next five home games. They face off this week against Nyack College on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 2 p.m.