• Final Score: Mercyhurst 63, Gannon 58
• Records: Gannon (9-17, 7-12 PSAC) | Mercyhurst (19-5, 14-5 PSAC)
• Location: Hammermill Center — Erie, Pa.

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• Playing in his first game in two weeks, Daryl Porter (Southfield, Mich./Walled Lake Western) twice tied the game in the final four minutes of play after Gannon furiously rallied, but Mercyhurst answered with a Nelson Maxwell 3-pointer to go back ahead. After the Golden Knights weren't able to convert on their next two chances, a Laker layup made it a five-point game. Free throws from Kevin Dodds (Downingtown, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) got the Knights back to within three with 57 ticks to play, but Mercyhurst again responded with a basket and held on for the win in the season's final Porreco Pride of Erie game.

• Gannon raced out to an 8-2 lead in the opening moments of the contest, with buckets from Dodds, Kofi Mills (London, England/Martin Van Buren (N.Y.)) and a 3-pointer from Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial). Dodds capped the opening run with a foul shot, but the Lakers countered by scoring on their next two trips up the floor.
• Mills dropped in a turning layup off a feed from Dodds for a 10-7 advantage before Mercyhurst took the lead for the remainder of the first half with hoops on two straight possessions. Isiah Maxwell canned a 3 as the visitors pulled ahead 12-10 with 11:47 showing on the first half clock.
• Porter, who made his return to the lineup, carved inside for an acrobatic finish in traffic to halt a Mercyhurst run and bring the Golden Knights to within 21-13. DeAnte Cisero (Chicago, Ill./Montgomery County (Ky.)) whittled that deficit to 23-15, but the Lakers eventually pushed the lead to double digits with 3:30 to go in the opening half.
• Matt Johnson (Chicago, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) kicked off a late-half rally by ripping the ball away from a Hurst player and racing the other way for a fastbreak bucket with two minutes left. The junior buried a trey with 57 seconds left in the period, and his rebound led to Olawoye nailing another 3-pointer to give the hosts the momentum heading into the locker room, down just 34-29.
• The Lakers came out sharp in the second half, exploding for the first eight points in less than three minutes. Johnson converted a three-point play to halt that run, and Porter did the same with 14:06 remaining to slice it to a nine-point game.
• A Dodds bucket brought it back to nine, and when Johnson was fouled beyond the arc, he hit all three free throws to get Gannon back to within six at 46-40. A scramble from Olawoye on his own 3-pointer that was blocked kept a possession alive, and it later ended with a Porter stick-back that capped an 8-0 spurt and made it 46-43 with 10:29 to play.
• It would remain tight the rest of the way, with Mercyhurst getting its lead back out to seven momentarily. A quick Gannon timeout reset the momentum though, and Cisero laid one in coming out the timeout. That was followed up by a Dodds jumper to cut it to three, and Sean Colosimo (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland) drove and pulled up on the baseline to hit a slick 10-footer to make it a one-point game and force a Mercyhurst timeout with 5:08 to go.
• The Lakers held a 54-51 advantage as the clock ticked under four minutes, but Cisero fed Porter, who rose at the foul line, nailed the jumper and was fouled on the follow-through. After the final media timeout, he buried the and-one chance to tie things up for the first time all game.
• The senior followed on the next possession with two more freebies to draw the Knights even again, but Mercyhurst answered with its big 3-pointer. A decent look with 16 seconds left and down five rimmed out for Porter, and despite a missed front end of a one-and-one, the Laker defense held on for the win.

• It was the first win at the Hammermill Center since the season finale of the 2015-16 season for the Lakers. Mercyhurst went on to win the PSAC tournament title and reach the Atlantic Region semis that season. It's just the 10th all-time win for the Lakers at the Mill in 39 chances.
• While it was still a defensive battle Saturday between the top two scoring defense teams in the Atlantic Region, things were better offensively than in the 51-35 slugfest a month ago. Gannon entered allowing 65.8 points per game and gave up 63, while Mercyhurst was surrendering 60.3 per game and allowed 58.
• Porter, who returned after missing the past two games, got right back to his normal ways, pouring in a team-high 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 from the line. Eight makes without a miss is the most for a Gannon player this season from the charity stripe.
• Both teams slowed the game down, with Gannon putting up just 42 shots and Mercyhurst just 49. The 42 attempts for the Knights is their lowest since -- wouldn't you know -- last season's 41 against the Lakers. The 91 combined shots from the floor is the least since 87 combined from Gannon (42) and IUP (45) in the 2014-15 PSAC championship game.
• The defeat, coupled with Pitt-Johnstown's win over Slippery Rock official removed the possibility of Gannon hosting a first-round PSAC playoff game. With a one-game lead on seventh-place Edinboro, the Knights still control their own destiny when it comes to a playoff berth.
• The Golden Knights' five seniors -- Joe Fustine (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep), Mike Haysbert (Baltimore, Md./Western School of Technology and Environmental Science), Kofi Mills (London, England/Martin Van Buren (N.Y.)), Daniel Sapp (Streetsboro, Ohio/Streetsboro) and Daryl Porter (Southfield, Mich./Walled Lake Western) -- were honored before the game.

• Gannon will take to the road for the final two games of the regular season, beginning Wednesday evening with a jaunt to Clarion.
• The 7:30 p.m. tip from the Student Recreation Center will feature live video, live stats and live audio.
• The Golden Knights hold a 40-13 lead in the all-time series against the Golden Eagles, and have now won 17 of their last 18 against Clarion after a 66-48 victory at home Jan. 21.
• Clarion sits in last place in the PSAC West standings at 5-19 (3-16 PSAC) after a tough 90-86 overtime defeat at Edinboro Saturday afternoon.

Erie is home.

The Gannon men's and women's basketball teams celebrated Senior Night last Saturday at the Hammermill center. pic.twitter.com/9wePdHV1LY

— Gannon Athletics (@GUKnights) February 25, 2019