Men's Basketball

Game Wrap-Up -The Lakers close out the season 15-13 and made their third-straight GLIAC Tournament appearance. It was also the third-straight season of at least nine GLIAC wins. Mercyhurst is now 1-7 all-time in the GLIAC Tournament with three losses coming at the hands of the Oilers. It was the final appearance in the GLIAC Tournament for the Lakers as they leave the GLIAC and enter the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in 2008-09.

Final Score: 87-64 - The Lakers certainly went down gunning in the final minutes. Handley made a fastbreak lay-up at the buzzer for his first points of the game. Mathis, ranked second in the GLIAC in steals, recorded a couple and he and Smith continued to fire from deep. Smith finished with 23, Mathis had 12 and McTear tallied 17.

4:26 - 80-54 lead for the Oilers. Mercyhurst subs in all four seniors--Cory Tubo, T.J. Mathis, Terry Smith and Luke Handley. Brian McTear stays on the floor and hits two foul shots. It appears to be the last time the four seniors will compete together. Smith will close his career as the sixth all-time leading scorer and first in 3-point shots made.

7:53 - 75-54 Findlay leads. Iddo Cohen picks up his fifth foul and in a nice show of sportsmanship, Findlay plays "Hit the Road, Jack," over the PA system and the crowd accompanies the song with clapping. Luke Handley has played soilidly since entering at the 12-minute mark. He made a steal and create an open dunk attempt for Cohen (he was fouled on the attempt).

10:44 -71-47 Oilers lead. Morgan Lewis threw down an alley-oop from Marcus Parker. That was his second BIG dunk of the game. Brian McTear had perfect defense and looked to be in position to prevent it but Lewis went higher and took it away for the dunk. Mercyhurst quickly quieted the crowd with a three by Mathis.

12:19- 65-42 Oilers. Senior Luke Handley makes his first appearance of the evening. While the Lakers are trying to come from behind, Findlay has controlled the tempo with a 1-2-2 "box" press, trapping on the sidelines. Coach Niekamp has also started to use a zone defense in the halfcourt.

14:41 - 58-38 Findlay at the under 16 media timeout. Iddo Cohen continues to get better every game. He finished with the left hand on a fast break pass from Mathis and then made a steal on the other end. Considering that he's a freshman and with his learning curve coming from Israel, he has matured quickly this season.

16:18 - 55-36 Findlay. Coach Manchel takes a 30-second time out after a Mathis 3-pointer. Lakers trail by 19 but have plenty of time to make it up. The problem is that they'll need to speed up the tempo to create quick points and that plays right into Findlay's hands.

17:00 - The second half started slowly but Morgan Lewis brought the house down with a Sportscenter highlight dunk. He had three in the first half in the first meeting with these two teams but that one was most impressive. Lewis, Roberts and Bostic are three of the most athletic players in Division II.

Halftime Update -Mercyhurst shot 12-of-32 from the field in the first half and over half of their shots have been from behind the arc. The Oilers hold a decisive 21-10 margin on the glass, have 24 points in the paint to Mercyhurst's eight and 15 bench points to Mercyhurst's two.

Halftime -51-31 Findlay at the midway point. Findlay is such a potent offensive team. It is shooting 65 percent from the field and 54 percent from 3-point range. The 51 points scored is the most the Lakers have given up in a half all season and it's the first time since Ohio Valley scored 51 in the second half on Nov. 25, 2006 that they have surrendered more than 50 points in a half. Mercyhurst went ice cold in the final four minutes from 3-point range, missing seven of their final eight shots. Terry Smith has 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.

2:23 - 44-28 Findlay as Manchel calls a 30-second time out. The Lakers have missed three 3-pointers in a row, opening the door for Findlay to pull away. The Oilers get the long rebounds off the three pointers and turn them into transition baskets as well as any team.

3:24 - 40-28 Findlay lead. Here comes the Findlay run. Lee Roberts throws down a fast-break alley oop and Tyler Evans hits two deep threes. Smith hit a three to answer and Ryann Bradford had a steal and two-hand jam to finish. Findlay has dropped into a 3-2 zone. Probably to cut down on the Laker penetration. Findlay uses their entire bench. They've subbed five at a time twice already.

6:48 - 30-23 Findlay leads into the media timeout. Mercyhurst's guards are being quite aggressive off the dribble, especially Mathis. Many times this season the Lakers have settled on the three point shot. The difference today is that the guards and getting to the hoop and kicking out for wide open looks. Smith has two threes for eight points. This is where Mercyhurst needs to keep things close. Findlay has a tendency to open big leads before the half.

10:43 - It's 24-15 into the media timeout. Terry Smith checks back in for Mercyhurst. The Laker guards have been able to penetrate and Tubo and Cohen have gotten some good looks.

11:17 - Findlay knows how to turn defense into offense. Morgan Lewis blocks a Tubo layup and Nathan Hyde hits a three on the other end to build the lead to 24-15. Mercyhurst has switched to the 1-3-1 zone and it seems to be giving Findlay problems. Remember that's the defense Ashland used to defeat Findlay earlier this year.

13:53 -With Smith out of the game, T.J. Mathis is taking over for the Lakers. He's hit a three and is creating for other players. Cory Tubo is in for the first time and Lee Roberts checks out for Findlay. He's a load inside at 6-7. Findlay is pressing full court and the Lakers are having trouble. They've had four turnovers

15:27 - Terry Smith looks to have received an elbow and got cut. He has to check out of the game. Ronnie Williams is in. T.J. Mathis is a gamer for the Lakers, he hits a big three just under the 16 minute mark. Findlay is hitting almost everything at this point. They take a 14-7 lead into the first media time out.

18:12 - Findlay has hit their first four shots from the floor, including two threes. The Lakers started in a 2-3 zone but Findlay is finding open shots. Manchel calls a 20 second timeout to regroup.

19:00 - Findlay wins the opening tip and quickly score on their first three possessions. Iddo Cohen picks up a bucket to stop the run.

Starting Lineups and pregame activities - The PA announcer informed me that the Findlay students just left for spring break. I still see a nice contingent of students. Just got a fist bump from one of the officials. Used to getting the cordial hand shake. Lakers are wearing their road blue uniforms today. There is no doubt that the Lakers will be playing the "disrespected" card today. They are the underdogs and Coach Manchel challenged them in the newspaper to play that way.

3:00 to tip-off - The Lakers are starting Terry Smith, T.J. Mathis and Brian McTear at guard. Ryann Bradford and Iddo Cohen are getting the starts inside. One note of interest is that Anthony Terry will likely be limited to action as he has been under the weather all weekend. Also, if you want to watch the game, check out the B2 Networks link on the sidebar of hurstathletics.com. Live stats are available on Findlay's web site.

5:00 to tip-off - There is great energy in this building. The paint on the floor is among the most original, as well. Directly underneath each hoop is an "oil spill" with the GLIAC logo in the natural wood. With the bleachers close the floor and the monstrous oil rig and "UF" logo at center court, the floor looks half of what a regulation floor should. Stay tuned for starters.

14:00 to tip-off - Something to keep in mind as the game goes forward. Findlay has won nine in a row over the Lakers. Findlay has won 12 in row since losing to Gannon on Jan. 10 this year and have won each game by an average margin of 26 points. The Oilers seem to be a team on a mission after a slow start. The Lakers have nothing to lose, though. They've managed 48 points per game in two games this season and only 49.3 in the last nine meetings. Goal No. 1 for the Lakers today: generate some offense and slow down Findlay, which has the top-ranked scoring offense in the GLIAC.

18:00 to tip-off - Mercyhurst has its hands full today. The Lakers posted a 15-12 record in the regular season but are going up against a Findlay team that is 24-3 and ranked sixth in Division II. The Lakers are no stranger to postseason play, though. Coach Gary Manchel is the first coach to lead the Lakers to three-straight GLIAC playoff appearances. It's also the fourth time in five years they've been on this stage. The only problem has been getting past the quarterfinals. The Lakers are 1-6 all-time in the GLIAC Tournament. But that one win came last year. Maybe the Lakers are on the right track.

23:00 to tip-off - It's been well documented that Findlay has won 58-straight regular season home games. During that time, they've also made six-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and have won three of the last four GLIAC Championships. The Oilers under Coach Ron Niekamp have built one of the most successful programs around. Part of that has been the home court advantage. I can see as the fans start filing in why this building is so tough on opposing teams. The bleachers are bright orange and stacked right on top of the court. Even press row is built right into the bleachers. I can see this being a hostile envoironment.

38:00 prior to tip-off - Good afternoon and welcome to the live game blog that will hopefully bring a little insight and description to today's GLIAC Tournament Quarterfinal contest between Findlay and Mercyhurst. I hope to provide updates every two or three minutes of game time. Please remember, this page will NOT refresh on its own. To continue to see updates, you'll need to periodically click the refresh button on your browser. With the business out of the way, the crowd is really starting to pour into Jim & Mira Houdeshell Court at Croy Gymnasium. Findlay SID, David Buck, believes we should see a capacity crowd today. No surprise with it being tournament time. Stay tuned for more pregame info.