Demetrius Mims vs. Mercyhurst
Ed Mailliard
68
Winner Mercyhurst Mercy 11-1,4-1 PSAC
63
Gannon Gannon 7-3,4-2 PSAC
Winner
Mercyhurst Mercy
11-1,4-1 PSAC
68
Final
63
Gannon Gannon
7-3,4-2 PSAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Mercyhurst Mercy 26 42 68
Gannon Gannon 25 38 63

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Short-Handed Golden Knights Fall Late to No. 7/8 Mercyhurst

ERIE, Pa. – Demetrius Mims (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute), Lance-Amir Paul (Kingston, Jamaica/Putnam Science Academy) and Donovan Forte (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights) combined for 51 points on Wednesday night, but a short-handed Gannon men's basketball team came up just short of upsetting No. 7/8 Mercyhurst. The Golden Knights dropped a 68-63 decision in their PSAC West opener at the Hammermill Center.

Gannon saw its three-game winning streak snapped while falling to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in PSAC action. Mercyhurst, ranked seventh in the latest NABC Division II Top 25 and eighth in the D2SIDA poll, is now 11-1 and 5-1, respectively.

Head coach Kelvin Jefferson was faced with the task of playing without four regulars in his rotation, including two starters. That included leading scorer Ike Herster (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic), who was averaging 17.9 ppg. They were even short an assistant coach on the bench. What hurt the Golden Knights as much as anything at the end, though, was Mercyhurst going 10-for-10 from the line in the final two minutes.



Gannon jumped out to an early seven-point lead at 16-9 with 12 minutes remaining in the first half when Braden Olsen (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) drained a 3-pointer. The Lakers proceeded to run off 11 points in a row as Gannon went scoreless for six-and-a-half minutes, with Mercyhurst taking a 20-16 lead.

The Golden Knights would regain the lead at 25-22 on a Forte putback, but Mercyhurst scored the final four points of the half to take s 26-25 halftime lead. Both teams shot like they hadn't played since December 19, with Gannon making 9-of-26 shots (34.6 percent) and Mercyhurst 10-of-31 (32.3 percent).

Gannon would trail by as many as eight points in the second half on two occasions, but clawed back late behind the efforts of Mims and Paul. Nicholas Lang's 3-pointer gave the Lakers a 45-37 advantage with 11:15 remaining.

The Golden Knights still faced a five-point deficit at 54-49 with 6:49 to play, but gradually cut into the lead. Paul's layup at the 4:52 mark gave Gannon the lead at 57-56. There would be three lead changes over the next three minutes. Aidan Reichert's layup put the Lakers back on top at 58-57 before Paul was able to convert on a twisting drive as he crashed to the floor to give Gannon a 59-58 lead with 2:04 to play.

Unfortunately, that would be Gannon's final lead. The Lakers would go 10-for-10 from the line the rest of the game to hold off the Golden Knights. Lang, who had missed just one free throw all season, gave Mercyhurst the lead for good at 60-59 with two from the charity stripe with 1:48 remaining.

Following a Gannon miss, Lang stepped to the line and made two more free throws as the deficit grew to 62-59. Both teams would fire up misses on their next possessions, and after the Lakers' miss Paul grabbed the rebound and fired a long pass to Alfonso Pickens for a breakaway layup. That left the Golden Knights trailing 62-61 with 15 seconds to play.

Steve Cannady boosted the lead back to three points at 64-61 with a pair of free throws. Mims answered with a pair at the charity stripe after being fouled with 12 seconds showing. A second later, Cameron Gross deposited a pair of free throws as the Lakers again led 66-63.
 
Gannon rushed the ball upcourt and called timeout with nine seconds to play. The Knights were unable to execute the potential tying play as they were unable to inbound the ball. Lang followed with a pair of insurance free throws for the final score.

Mims paced the Golden Knights with 21 points, his second 20-point effort of the season. The 6'6" redshirt sophomore by way of Towson made 8-of-12 field goals, including his lone 3-point attempts, and was 4-of-4 at the line.

Paul registered his third 20-point game while battling Mercyhurst's trio of standout guards. The 6'0" redshirt sophomore, a transfer from Frank Phillips College, went 9-of-10 from the free throw line and also pulled down a game-high 6 rebounds and handed out 4 assists. He has now scored in double figures in all nine games he has played in this season.

In his first start of the season, Forte powered his way inside for 10 markers, making 5-of-9 shots. Pickens (7 points) and Olsen (5 points) were the only other Golden Knights to score as both teams employed just seven players.

After struggling to find the bottom of the net in the first half, both teams warmed up the second twenty minutes. Gannon shot 61.9 percent in the second half to finish at 46.8 percent (22-of-47). Mercyhurst ended the night at 45.5 percent (25-of-55) after shooting 62.5 percent in the second half. Both were almost near-perfect from the line, as Gannon made 15-of-16 free throws and the Lakers 14-of-16.

Gannon came into the game as one of the top rebounding teams in the PSAC, while Mercyhurst ranked among the top teams in the country in turnover margin. That turned out to be the case on Wednesday night, as well. Gannon outrebounded the Lakers 33-24, leading to a 13-6 advantage in second-chance points. But the Lakers would force 20 turnovers while committing just seven. Mercyhurst would outscore Gannon 26-12 on turnovers.

Lang led three Lakers in double figures with 15 points, going a perfect 6-for-6 at the line. He added a team-high 6 rebounds. MiyKah McIntosh and Michael Bradley had 14 points apiece.
With Saturday's game at Edinboro postponed, Gannon now returns to action on Monday, January 10 at Seton Hill. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. It will mark the first of three games next week.
 
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