Feb. 12, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

GAME INFORMATION
• Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008, 7:30 p.m. • Mercyhurst (14-10, 8-6) at #8 Findlay (20-3, 10-3)
• B2 Networks
• Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008, 3 p.m. • Mercyhurst at Ashland (12-11, 6-7)
• Ashland Radio Broadcast

ABOUT THE GAMES
• The Mercyhurst Lakers enter their final Thursday-Saturday road trip of the season on a roll, having won six-straight to improve their season mark to 14-10 overall and 8-6 in the GLIAC. It is the first time all season that the Lakers are four games above .500 and it is also their longest overall winning streak and longest GLIAC winning streak since 2003-04, which was Gary Manchel's first year as head coach.
• The Lakers are also coming off their second-best offensive performance of the year, scoring 90 points in Saturday's win over Hillsdale. It was just the second time this year that the Lakers had scored 90 points.
• The Lakers finished their home schedule 10-5, but they are just 3-4 on the road this year and are 2-3 in conference road games. Looking to snap Mercyhurst's recent run is Findlay and Ashland, and both teams are two of the better home teams in the GLIAC. Ashland is 7-3 at home and Findlay is a perfect 11-0.
• Thursday's game at Findlay can be watched on the B2 Networks. Saturday's game will be broadcast via the Internet. Visit www.ashland.edu/athletics for more information.

SCOUTING FINDLAY
• Findlay enters Thursday's contest ranked eighth in Division II with a 20-3 record. The Oilers are in second in the GIIAC South Division at 10-3. The Oilers have won eight in a row, all by more than 10 points. They outscore their opponents by 20.1 points per game and have the league's second-ranked scoring defense at 58.2 points allowed per game.
• Findlay also ranks first in the GLIAC and fifth nationally in field goal percentage and ranks first in 3-point field goal percentage defense, as they are limiting teams to 30.7 percent.
• Josh Bostic and Morgan Lewis lead Findlay with 13 points per game.

SCOUTING ASHLAND
• Ashland features one of the league's most potent offenses, ranking second with 79.7 points per outing. The Eagles, however, rank 12th in the 13-team conference in scoring defense.
• Ashland won a pair of road games at Northwood and Saginaw Valley State last week to halt a skid that saw them lose six of seven games. The Eagles are now 12-11 overall and 6-7 in the conference, one-half game ahead of Hillsdale for the fourth and final playoff spot in the GLIAC South.
• The Eagles have three players ranked in the top 12 in the conference in scoring. Kale Richardson and Brett Wackerly are both averaging 16.0 points per game, and Brett Barlett ranks 12th with 15.2 points per game.

ABOUT THE SERIES
• Findlay holds a 17-6 lead in the all-time series and has won 10 in a row and 13 of 14. Mercyhurst's last win came by a 69-61 score in overtime in 2004. That was Gary Manchel's first game against Findlay as the head coach of the Lakers.
• Ashland is 21-14 against the Lakers and has won six of the last eight meetings. Mercyhurst, however, captured the last game 81-75 in overtime on Jan. 5. Manchel won his first two games against in the Eagles in 2003-04 but is now 4-6 in 10 meetings. The first meeting between the two squads came in the season opener of the 1981-82 season. Ashland won that game 90-76. Mercyhurst's first win in the series came by an 86-67 margin in 1985.

THE LAST MEETINGS
• Findlay dispatched the Lakers 71-42 inside the Mercyhurst Athletic Center on Jan. 12, 2008.
• The Lakers struggled to score against Findlay's air-tight defense, shooting just 34 percent from the field and scoring a season-low 42 points. It was the fewest points scored by a Laker team since scoring just 40 against Findlay on March 2, 2007.
• Morgan Lewis led Findlay with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting. He scored 14 in the first half including eight on four dunks.
• Gary Manchel earned his 200th career win as the Lakers earned an 81-75 overtime victory on Jan. 10. The Lakers held Ashland to just 2-of-12 shooting and 0-of-5 shooting from 3-point range in overtime. Mercyhurst, meanwhile, converted 8-of-10 and made five in a row--three from Anthony Terry and two from Brian McTear--in the final 26 seconds to keep Ashland at bay.
• McTear tallied his first career double-double with 20 points and 10 assists.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• The Lakers used three career scoring performances to run away with an 90-80 Senior Day victory and extend their winning streak to six games.
• Junior Brian McTear struck for a career-high 25, junior Iddo Cohen added 17 on 6-of-7 shooting, and T.J. Mathis--playing his final regular season game in the Mercyhurst Athletic Center--matched his career-best with 24 points, 14 of which came in the first eight minutes of the second period.
• Those three career efforts coupled with a pressure defense that created 21 points off turnovers gave Mercyhurst its longest winning streak since winning six in 2003.

TWICE AS NICE
• Terry Smith registered his first double-double of the season and his first since 2005 with 20 points and 10 rebounds against Hillsdale on Jan. 24. Mercyhurst has had five double-double performances from four players this season. Milos Bogetic leads the team with two, and Smith, T.J. Mathis and Brian McTear each have one.
• The team has posted a 4-1 record this season when a player has recorded a double-double.

20 TO WIN
• Mercyhurst's three guards, Terry Smith, T.J. Mathis and Brian McTear have combined for 15 20-point games this season. They are the only players on the roster to have totaled 20 points in a game. Smith leads the team with eight 20-point efforts, McTear has five, all of which have come in the last 10 games, and Mathis has two to his credit, including a career-high 24 against Hillsdale on Feb. 9.
• During Mercyhurst's recent six-game winning streak, Smith has scored over 20 points four times. McTear has three and Mathis has one.
• When Smith scores at least 20 points, the team is 7-1. The lone loss came along with his season-high 25-point performance against Felecian on Nov. 17. On the year, the Lakers are 10-2 when a player scores at least 20 points.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
• Mercyhurst is averaging 65.8 points per game, but the team is playing excellent defense, holding opponents to just 65.2 points per outing. The Lakers have held opponents to fewer than 70 points 19 times this year. Eleven of Mercyhurst's last 14 opponents have failed to score more than 67 points and only one of Mercyhurst's last six opponents have managed more than 68. The Lakers are 11-5 when they hold opponents to 67 points or less. Six times the Lakers have held their opponents to under 60 points.

A HELPING HAND
• While leading the team in assists per game, Brian McTear has been showing a knack for scoring, dropping 20 points five times in the last 10 games, including scoring a career-high 25 points against Hillsdale on Feb. 9. Still, he ranks first on the team and fifth in the conference in assists with 96 total and an average of 4.0 per game. He also ranks fifth in assists/turnover ratio at 1.51. Twelve times this season he has totaled four or more assists. McTear has recorded at least two assists in 22 of 24 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 fifth in the GLIAC in blocks per game (1.63). Twice this season he has totaled five blocked shots (vs. Edinboro on Dec. 5 and vs. Wayne State on Feb. 7). The five blocks is the best single-game total by any Laker since Jeff Daisley tallied eight against Ferris State on Jan. 19, 2006. Cohen is also the first player since Daisley in 2005 to have two games of at least five blocks.
• Cohen has recorded at least two blocks in 10 of the team's 22 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 193 in his career. Smith also has attempted 512 3-pointers and is 26 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 24 games this season, he has moved from 24th to 7th on the all-time scoring list. With 1,295 points, he now trails Gerry Battle by 74 points for sixth.
• Smith, with 71 made 3-pointers this season, needs six to tie Kerry Baker's (1992-93) single season record of 77.
• Along with being a standout scoring threat, Smith ranks fifth in career steals with 186 and needs 29 to pass Rahsaah Roland (1992-96) for third place. Also, with four more assists, Smith will crack the school's career top-10 list. He currently has 267 in his career.

MERCYHURST MILESTONES
• By defeating Ashland on Jan. 10, Laker head coach Gary Manchel earned his 200th career victory. He has improved his career record to 206-186 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 75 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 14 wins a year throughout its history and has a winning percentage of .515.

BOMBS AWAY
• Through the first 24 games of the season, the Lakers have hit an average of 7.96 3-pointers per game, which ranks fifth in the GLIAC. The team has drilled 191-of-556 3-point shots and has made at least five in all but one game. Terry Smith leads the team with 71 threes and is shooting 39 percent. He also ranks second in the conference in 3-pointers made per game.
• With 191 makes, the Lakers are on pace to hit 215 in the regular season. It 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.
• Terry Smith is on pace to make 80 3-pointers (2.96 per game). The current single season record is 77 and is held by Kerry Baker (1992-93). Smith is also on pace to attempt 201 3-pointers, which would break 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.
• Terry Smith leads the GLIAC with 57 steals, averaging 2.59 per game. He has totaled six in a game twice this season. He has already topped his career single-season best which was previously 52 (2005-06). Smith has totaled at least four steals seven times.
• T.J. Mathis has totaled 53 in 22 games for an average of 2.41 per game, ranking him third in the GLIAC in steals per game. He has recorded five steals three times this season.