Nov. 19, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

ABOUT THE GAMES
- After starting the season 2-1 with wins over Roberts Wesleyan and Columbia Union, the Lakers face their first two true road tests of the 2007-08 season this week with games at Slippery Rock and Indiana (Pa.). While the Lakers have three games under their belts, Tuesday's game at Slippery Rock's Morrow Field House will be the home team's season opener. The Rock did, however, face a daunting exhibition schedule that featured games against Penn State and St. Bonaventure. Slippery Rock returns four starters from a team that posted a 5-22 mark under first-year head coach Jamal Palmer. Leading the returnees is Jamar Scales, who averaged 12.1 points per game last year. Game time for Tuesday's game is scheduled for 8 p.m.
- Following the Thanksgiving holiday, the Lakers travel to Indiana (Pa.) on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. Indiana opened the season with a convincing 95-44 win over Penn State Fayette on Nov. 17 and will tangle with nationally ranked Alderson-Broaddus on Nov. 20 before facing the Lakers. IUP managed six wins last season with first-year coach Joe Lombardi beginning a major rebuilding effort. The team returns two starters, but one of those is the reigning PSAC West Rookie of the Year, Gerald Brooks.
- IUP was picked to finish tied for fifth with Lock Haven in the PSAC Western Division in the conference's preseason poll. Slippery Rock was pegged seventh out of seven teams. Indiana's Brooks earned Preseason All-PSAC West mention.

ABOUT THE SERIES
- Mercyhurst holds a slight 15-13 edge in the all-time series against Slippery Rock. But in Gary Manchel's four years at Mercyhurst, the Lakers are 4-0 and have won each game by an average margin of 24 points. Overall, the Lakers have won seven-straight over Slippery Rock, dating back to 1996-97. The two programs are old foes, having met in Mercyhurst's first season of basketball in 1971. Mercyhurst won that first meeting 69-68 at Slippery Rock.
- Mercyhurst has not had the same fortunes against IUP. The Lakers have just three wins in 11 meetings against the Crimson Hawks, but are 1-0 under the direction of Manchel. Mercyhurst took the 2006-07 meeting by a 67-51 score. It was the first meeting between the two teams since 1994-95. The first meeting between the programs came in the 1980-81 season and resulted in an 83-79 IUP victory.

THE LAST MEETING
- Mercyhurst earned an 86-61 victory over The Rock on Dec.30, 2006 and were paced by Shelby Chaney's 18 points and 15 rebounds. Also in the game, Chaney scored the 1,000th point of his career.
- In the last meeting with Indiana, Mercyhurst closed the first half with a 22-3 run and held IUP scoreless over the final 5:57 of the period on the Lakers' way to a 67-51 non-conference victory. Avi Fogel scored 19 to lead Mercyhurst and added five rebounds, four assists and three steals. He hit 7-of-12 from the floor. Richard Field added 13 points and a team-high eight boards. T.J. Mathis had 10 points.

ABOUT THE COACHES
- Slippery Rock's Jamal Palmer enters his second season at Slippery Rock as the head coach and his third overall, as he served as the top assistant in 2005-06. Prior to his arrival at Slippery Rock, he served as an assistant under Dave Springer at Shippensburg. Palmer is a 1999 graduate of Millersville University and was an All-PSAC performer as a player, totaling 1,434 career points. He ranks 12th on the school's all-time scoring list.
- Joe Lombardi enters his second season at Indiana. In his first season, the team struggled to a 6-22 finish. Prior to coming to IUP, Lombardi was an assistant coach for more than 20 years, including the previous three at the University of Pittsburgh. He has 24 years of experience, 21 of which have come on the NCAA Division I level. He is a 1981 graduate of Youngstown State.

LAKERS' LAST TIME OUT
- One day after surrendering 86 points in a loss to Felician, the Mercyhurst men's basketball team cranked up its defense and held Columbia Union to just 28.8 percent shooting and 46 points in a consolation round win at the Davis & Elkins Tip-Off Tournament.
- The Lakers drilled 45.3 percent of its shots and senior Terry Smith, coming off a 25-point performance against Felician, totaled 21 and hit all of Mercyhurst's 3-pointers, going 5-of-11.

CONSISTENT STARTS
- With a 2-1 record to start the season, the Lakers have extended a run of 13-straight season in which the team has earned at least two victories in its first three games. The last time Mercyhurst failed to do so was in 1994, when the Lakers dropped decisions to Lincoln Memorial and St. Vincent.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
- Several newcomers made an immediate impact in their Laker debut against Roberts Wesleyan on Nov. 15. Leading the way was junior Milos Bogetic, who finished with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. He became the first player of the Gary Manchel era to record a double-double in a season opener and the first player to perform the feat in his first appearance in a Mercyhurst uniform.
- Also making their presence felt was freshman Srdjan Popovic, who finished with 16 points. Junior Brian McTear added 11 points and a game-high six assists. Laker newcomers totaled 50 of the team's 81 points.

BOMBS AWAY
- Through the first three games of the season, the Lakers are shooting an impressive 42.3 percent from 3-point range. The team has drilled 30-of-71 3-point shots and six Lakers have sank at least one 3-pointer. Terry Smith leads the team with 14 threes and is shooting an incredible 48.3 percent. Srdjan Popovic has just as impressive in fewer attempts, knocking down 6-of-10.
- It took the Lakers five games to make 30 3-pointers a year ago and already this season, Mercyhurst has made 10 or more in a game twice. Last year, two games of 10 or more 3-pointers didn't come until the ninth game.
- After the season's first week, the Lakers rank third in the GLIAC in 3-point shooting percentage, trailing only nationally ranked Findlay (.441) and Grand Valley State (.516).
- Meanwhile, the team is second in the GLIAC in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 18-of-66 shooting (27.3 percent). Only Gannon, which has played just one game and allowed two 3-pointers in 10 attempts, ranks higher.

STEALING THE SHOW
- Senior T.J. Mathis showed a knack for creating turnovers in 2006-07 when he totaled 50 and averaged nearly two steals per game. He is off to a fast start in 2007-08, totaling 13 in just three games for an average of 4.33 per game. Mathis ranks first in the GLIAC in steals per game and has five more steals than player ranked second.
- Mathis isn't the only player getting in on the act. Terry Smith has seven steals and ranks ninth in the conference with an average of 2.33 per game. As a team, the Lakers are averaging 10.57 steals per game.

MERCYHURST MILESTONES
- The Lakers are on the verge of several special milestone moments. In the 36-year history of the program, Mercyhurst has totaled 498 victories, leaving them just two shy of 500.
- In just four seasons, Gary Manchel has moved into third-place on Mercyhurst's list of all-time winningest coaches with 63 victories. But in his 13 years of coaching, he has compiled a career record of 194-177, leaving him six wins shy of 200.
- Laker senior Terry Smith is also closing in on 1,000 career points. He has 967 for his career and currently ranks 20th on the all-time scoring list.

EARLY EXPECTATIONS
- Following an 18-11 overall mark and a 9-8 record and second place finish in the GLIAC South in 2006-07, the Lakers were voted fourth in the South Division in the 2007-08 GLIAC Preseason Poll.
- The poll was voted on by GLIAC sports information directors and selected members of the media. In the South Division, Findlay was the unanimous preseason favorite, receiving all 30 votes. Wayne State and Ashland finished with 115 and 108 points respectively, and the Lakers received 100 votes. Hillsdale and Gannon rounded out the six-team division.
- Individually, Terry Smith was picked the Preseason All-GLIAC team. He was a second team selection in 2005-06 as a sophomore.

GRAND FINALE
- The Lakers enter their final season in the GLIAC after competing in the conference since the 1995-96 season. During that time, the program has totaled a 77-121 conference mark and made six conference tournament appearances.
- Three of those tournament berths have come during Gary Manchel's tenure, however. His teams are 30-38 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.

MAC ADVANTAGE
- In the last three seasons, the Lakers have made the Mercyhurst Athletic Center one of the toughest buildings in the GLIAC for opponents and so far this season, Mercyhurst is 1-0 with a win over Roberts Wesleyan.
- Last season, the team posted a 13-2 mark at home with its only losses coming against Hillsdale and an eight-point loss to eventual GLIAC champion Findlay. Over the last three seasons, the Lakers have posted a 25-5 record at home, and entering the 2007-08 campaign, it was third best in GLIAC to Grand Valley at 31-1 and Findlay a 33-1 record.

NEW FACES
- The Lakers return only one starter (T.J. Mathis) from last season and lost 68 percent of their scoring and rebounding with the graduation of Avi Fogel, Shelby Chaney, Mitch Brennan and Richard Field.
- Manchel filled the roster spots with four freshmen and four transfers. Two of the transfers, Brian McTear and Milos Bogetic, have Division I experience at Portland and Penn State, while Franklin Jones red-shirted at UTEP last season.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
- When the Lakers traveled to Davis & Elkins last weekend, it was only their second trip to the state of West Virginia since joining the GLIAC in 1995-96.
- The team's only other visit to the Mountain State was on Nov. 25, 2006, when the Lakers traveled to Vienna, W.Va., to take on Ohio Valley University. Mercyhurst won that contest 87-82 behind 27 points from Avi Fogel and 19 from T.J. Mathis.

IT'S A SMALL WORLD
- Mercyhurst has four players that grew up outside of the United States on this year's roster. Milos Bogetic and Srdjan Popovic hail from Podgorica, Montenegro. Freshman forward Iddo Cohen comes to Mercyhurst from Haifa, Israel, and sophomore Ronnie Williams is a Toronto, Ontario native.
- Only three players on the roster list hometowns in Pennsylvania. Newcomer Brian McTear is from Los Angeles, Calif., and four players are from New York, the most of any state.

CHANGING ROLES
- When Laker assistant Jason Leone took the head coaching position at Keystone College, Manchel elected to fill the position from within his coaching staff, promoting graduate assistant Matt Capell to full-time assistant.
- Capell started his career at Alfred State in 2002-03 and then moved on to Clarkson University in 2003-04 before being hired at Division III Hamilton College. While there, he helped the team to a 38-16 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance in two seasons.
- Filling the graduate assistant vacancy was Brendan Mullins, who comes to Mercyhurst after a stellar playing career at Saint Michael's. In his four-year career, Mullins scored over 1,000 career points and was named All-Northeast-10 First Team for averaging 18.2 points per game as a senior in 2006-07.