Nov. 2, 2007

Live Stats

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's basketball team opens its 2007-08 exhibition schedule on Saturday with a trip to Athens, Ohio to face Ohio University at the Convocation Center. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Mercyhurst, ranked fourth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division, returns guard T.J. Mathis and All-GLIAC South Division preseason honoree Terry Smith. Both players averaged nearly 10 points per game last season, and will count on the contributions of several newcomers.

Head coach Gary Manchel is entering his fifth season at the helm and under his direction, the Lakers have reached uncharted territory, winning a 37 total games (18 in the GLIAC) and even earning the right to host a GLIAC Tournament game for the first time in the program's history.

Manchel will be back in familiar territory when the team enters the Convo Saturday, as he served as an assistant coach for Ohio under Terry O'Shea in 2001-02.

Manchel was part O'Shea's first staff, and since O'Shea's arrival in Athens, the Bobcats have turned into a perennial contender in the Mid-American Conference. Ohio is coming off a 19-13 season in 2006-07--its third-straight season of 19 or more wins.

The Bobcats return a pair of All-MAC performers in Jerome Tillman and Leon Williams, who combine to create a formidable frontcourt tandem. As a team, Ohio was picked to finish third in the East Division by the MAC News Media Association.

The 6-foot-8 Williams, with 94 career starts under his belt, was a Second Team All-MAC pick last season after averaging 14.4 points per game and ranking second in rebounds with 8.8 per game. The 6-6 Tillman, meanwhile, was a first team honoree in 2006-07 and averaged 14.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.

The match-ups will be a measuring stick for Manchel to see what exactly he has in his promising crop of incoming post players: Milos Bogetic from Penn State and Franklin Jones from UTEP. The 6-10 Bogetic is a veteran of 60 Division I games and Jones, a true 7-footer, red-shirted last season but averaged a triple double at Niagara High School as a senior.

The Lakers are hardly short on size, with six players on the roster standing at least 6-6.

Mercyhurst will also get its first glimpse of Portland transfer Brian McTear, who started 14 games as a point guard at the Division I level last year.

Action from the game and live stats can be followed on Gametracker.