Jan. 23, 2008

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's basketball team looks to snap its three-game skid this week when it travels to Hillsdale Thursday and Wayne State Saturday.

ABOUT THE GAMES
• Mercyhurst enters this week with an 8-10 overall record and a 2-6 mark in the GLIAC. Mercyhurst has dropped three straight and five of their last six dating back to Dec. 20. Both of the Lakers' games are on the road, where they have struggled, posting a 1-4 record.
• Mercyhurst opens the week at Hillsdale, which boasts a 10-6 overall record and a 5-3 mark in the GLIAC. The Chargers are sitting in third place in the GLIAC South, but are looking to bounce back from a 67-66 loss at Northern Michigan.
• On Saturday, the Lakers travel to Detroit, Mich., for a 3 p.m., game at Wayne State. Wayne State enters the week with a 9-7 overall mark and a 3-5 record in the GLIAC. The Warriors, however, have struggled after a 7-1 start. They have lost two in a row and six of eight. Still, the Warriors are 7-0 with three GLIAC wins at home.
• The Wayne State game will be broadcast live on the B2 Networks and on www.wdtkam.com.

SCOUTING HILLSDALE
• The Chargers boast the conference's top-ranked scoring offense, averaging an impressive 84.4 points per game. However, they are last in the GLIAC in scoring defense, surrendering 79.6 points per outing. Hillsdale has scored 80 or more points in 10 games this year and are 9-1 when reaching the 80-point mark.
• Hillsdale has a potent one-two scoring punch that ranks first and second in the GLIAC in scoring average. Tim Homan leads the team in scoring with 19.6 points per game but has been even better in conference play, averaging 24.6 points in eight GLIAC games. Tony Gugino is averaging 19.4 points per game and 7.8 rebounds, which leads the team. Keith MacKenzie at 14.8 points per game and Travis Worst at 11.8 points per game also averaging double figures.
• As a team, the Chargers are shooting 47 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the 3-point line.

SCOUTING WAYNE STATE
• The Warriors are one of the top turnover-creating teams in the GLIAC, ranking second in steals (9.44 per game) and third in turnover margin at +3.69.
• Wynn Sarden ranks third in the conference in scoring, averaging 18.6 points per game. He also ranks second in rebounding at 9.9 rebounds per game. Lorenzo McClelland boasts a 13.1 point per game average, Lendyn Davis is posting 11.2 points per game and Jason Saddler is averaging 11.1 per game.

ABOUT THE SERIES
• Hillsdale has won 17 of the last 19 games between the two schools, including a two-game sweep of the Lakers last year. Since 2003-04, Hillsdale is 6-2 against Gary Manchel's Lakers. In 2006-07, the Lakers lost by three points at Wayne State but dropped an 81-65 decision on senior night in the MAC.
• Wayne State holds a slight 13-11 lead in the all-time series, but the Lakers have won five in a row dating back to 2005. Last year, the Lakers took three games from the Warriors, including a 59-54 decision in the GLIAC Tournament.

THE LAST MEETINGS
• On Feb. 10, 2007, Mercyhurst sank 10-of-14 threes, including 5-of-6 by Richard Field, but Hillsdale got 45 bench points to take an 81-65 final at the MAC from Mercyhurst on Senior Day.
• On Feb. 27, 2007, Mercyhurst held the GLIAC's top three-point shooting team to just 3-of-13 as the Lakers claimed their first ever GLIAC postseason win, 59-54 over Wayne State at the MAC. Avi Fogel scored 19 to lead Mercyhurst (18-10) to its first postseason victory in 28 years. The senior point guard added five assists. Richard Field added 10 and was the only other Laker in double figures.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• The Mercyhurst men's basketball team led homestanding Ferris State by 12 at halftime, but the Bulldogs scored the first 16 points of the second period and the Lakers couldn't recover, falling 63-58 Saturday afternoon.
• After hitting 12-of-27 field goals and four 3-pointers in the first half, Mercyhurst (8-10, 2-6 GLIAC) went ice cold to start the second, missing its first seven attempts. The Lakers went scoreless for the first 4:49, and by the time T.J. Mathis got the Lakers on the board, Ferris State had stormed ahead by a 35-33 score.
• After scoring 19 in the first half, Ferris State exploded for 44 in the second despite making only one 3-point field goal the entire game. The Bulldogs hit 13-of-24 attempts and shot 17-of-20 from the stripe in the second half alone.
• Mercyhurst, meanwhile, which has scored more than 60 points just once in the last six games, shot 3-of-16 from behind the arch and 9-of-31 from the field in the second period.

A HELPING HAND
• While leading the team in assists per game, Brian McTear has been showing a knack for scoring, dropping 20 points twice in the last four games. Still, he ranks first on the team and fifth in the conference in assists with 69 total and an average of 4.2 per game. He also ranks third in assists/turnover ratio at 2.09. Eight times this season he has totaled four or more assists. McTear has recorded at least two assists in 16 of 18 games.
• Against Ashland, he handed out 10 assists and committed just one turnover.
• Mercyhurst has recorded 20 or more assists three times this year, including 22 assists to just 11 turnovers against Ashland on Jan. 10. When the Lakers record at least 16 assists in a game, they are 5-1.

BLOCK PARTY
• Freshman Iddo Cohen has quickly made his presence felt on the defensive end, as he ranks fourth in the GLIAC in blocks per game (1.50). His most impressive outing of the season came against Edinboro, when he totaled a career-high five blocks. It was the best single-game total by any Laker since Jeff Daisley tallied eight against Ferris State on Jan. 19, 2006.
• Cohen has recorded at least two blocks in seven of the team's 18 games.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
• On Jan. 10 against Ashland, Terry Smith made four 3-pointers, tying him with Jason Ioppolo for first in career 3-pointers made. Two days, later, against Findlay, Smith hit two more, giving him 174 3-pointers on his career and a new school record. He now has 178 in his career. Smith also has attempted 464 3-pointers and is 74 shy of Richard Bradley's record of 538.
• With two second half free throws against Michigan Tech on Nov. 29, Terry Smith totaled his 1,000th career point. He became just the 15th player in school history to accomplish the feat.
• In just 16 games this season, he has moved from 24th to 10th on the all-time scoring list, passing Richard Bradley with his 10-point effort against Findlay. With 1,182 points, he now trails Craig Young, who totaled 1,202.
• Smith, with 54 made 3-pointers this season, needs 23 to tie Kerry Baker's (1992-93) single season record of 77.
• Along with being a standout scoring threat, Smith ranks sixth in career steals with 171 and needs 10 to pass Todd Lee (1983-87) for fifth place. Also, with 14 more assists, Smith will crack the school's career top-10 list. He currently has 251 in his career.

MERCYHURST MILESTONES
• By defeating Ashland on Jan. 10, the Laker head coach Gary Manchel earned his 200th career victory, improving his career record to 200-186 in 14 seasons. In just four seasons at Mercyhurst, Gary Manchel has moved into fourth place on the school's list of all-time winningest coaches with 69 total victories. He ranks third in winning percentage.
• On Saturday, Dec. 1, the Lakers picked up the 500th victory in the history of the program with a 63-55 win over Northern Michigan. The program has averaged nearly 14 wins a year throughout its history and has a winning percentage of .516.

GRAND FINALE
• The Lakers enter their final season in the GLIAC after competing in the conference since the 1995-96 season. So far, the team is 2-6 this year, boosting the program's mark to 79-127. The team has also made six conference tournament appearances.
• Three of those berths have come during Gary Manchel's tenure, however. His teams are 32-44 in the GLIAC with nine or more conference wins in three of four years. His 2006-07 squad earned the school's first home playoff game, as well, hosting Wayne State in the first round of the GLIAC Tournament on Feb. 27.

BOMBS AWAY
• Through the first 18 games of the season, the Lakers have hit an average of 7.9 3-pointers per game, which ranks fourth in the GLIAC. The team has drilled 143-of-421 3-point shots and has made at least five in all but one game. Terry Smith leads the team with 54 threes and is shooting an impressive 41 percent, ranking 14th in the GLIAC. He also ranks second in the conference in 3-pointers made per game.
• With 143 3-pointers through 18 games, the Lakers are on pace to hit 215 by the end of the regular season. That would be just the second time in school history that a team made more than 200 3-pointers in a season. The only other time came in 1991-92 when the Lakers hit 226-of-587 from long range.
• Four times this season, the Lakers have hit 10 or more 3-pointers, and against Ohio Valley, the Lakers knocked down 14-of-25 from long range, falling one shy of the school record that was set against Lake Superior State in 2006.
• Against Ashland on Jan. 10, the Lakers fired 38 3-pointers, setting a new school record for attempts in a game.
• Individually, Terry Smith is on pace to make 81 3-point field goals (averaging 3.0 per game). The current single season record is 77 and is held by Kerry Baker (1992-93). Smith is also on pace to attempt 197 3-pointers, which would come close to Richard Bradley's record of 200 that he set in 1998-99.

GRAND THEFT
• Mercyhurst's guards have been pestering opponents this season, with two players ranking in the top three in the conference in steals.
• Senior T.J. Mathis showed a knack for creating turnovers in 2006-07 when he totaled 50 and averaged nearly two steals per game. His numbers are even better in 2007-08, though, totaling 46 in 18 games for an average of 2.56 per game. Mathis has totaled at least two steals in each of the last 10 games, including a season-high five against Ohio Valley and Gannon. He currently ranks second in the GLIAC in steals per game. In the first 4:27 against Gannon, he totaled four steals.
• Mathis is on pace for 69 steals this season, which would leave him nine steals shy of the school's single season record.
• Terry Smith grabbed five steals against Ferris State, improving his season total to 43. He is averaging 2.39 steals per game, placing him third in the GLIAC behind Mathis.