Dec. 3, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

Erie, Pa. - After opening GLIAC play with one win and one loss last week, the Mercyhurst men's basketball team receives a visit from local non-conference rival Edinboro and then travels to Sault Ste. Marie for a GLIAC game against Lake Superior State on Saturday at 3 p.m.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
• Radio coverage of Edinboro game can be heard on WMCE 88.5 and 104.9 FM. It can also be heard online at wmce.mercyhurst.edu.
• Both games will be broadcast live on the Internet on the B2 Networks.
• The Lakers earned a 63-55 win over Nothern Michigan their last time out and are looking to win back-to-back games for the second time this season.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
• Edinboro enters Thursday's game with a 3-2 record and is looking to snap a two-game skid that started with an overtime loss at Millersville on Dec. 1 and was extended with a 70-56 loss at West Chester.
• The two losses were Edinboro's first road games of the season and it will play eight-straight road games before returning home on Jan. 5.
• Edinboro, picked to finish second in the PSAC Western Division has a pair of preseason All-PSAC picks in Joseph Jones and Ryan McLemore. McLemore is already off to an excellent start, as he was named PSAC West Player of the Week on Nov. 25. He is a shot-blocking specialist and is closing in on the all-time Edinboro record for career blocks, needing just three more to move past Melvin Hooker's mark of 201.
• He is currently averaging a double-double of 11.2 points and 10.2 rebounds. He ranks second in the PSAC in rebounding and near the top in blocks with 3.0 per game.
• Leading the Fighting Scots in scoring is Joseph Jones with an average of 16.6 per outing.
• As a team, the Fighting Scots are shooting just 40.9 percent from the field and 25.3 from 3-point range but have managed to outrebound their opponents by more than seven per game.
• Lake Superior State enters the week still searching for its first victory of the season. The Lakers are 0-6 and have scored more than 70 points just once this year and rank 11th in the conference in scoring offense while ranking 12th in scoring defense, allowing 79 points per game.
• Tim VanOudheusden leads the team with 12.3 points per game and has scored 18 per game in two conference games. He totaled a season-high 24 points and seven rebounds against No. 2-ranked Grand Valley State on Dec. 1.
• Mercyhurst, one of the top GLIAC teams in steals, will likely pressure Lake Superior State as it the team ranks 13th in the GLIAC in turnover margin (-3.83).

ABOUT THE SERIES
• Edinboro and Mercyhurst are familiar foes. In fact, since their first meeting in 1972-73, the Lakers have played the Fighting Scots 64 times--more than any other opponent in school history.
• Edinboro holds a 40-24 advantage in the series, but since 1997-98, Mercyhurst holds a 9-8 edge and is 5-4 against the Fighting Scots since 2001-02. Head coach Gary Manchel is 2-3 against Edinboro.
• Mercyhurst and Lake Superior State have met 12 times--once each year--since the Lakers joined the GLIAC in 1995-96. Mercyhurst holds a 9-3 advantage in the series and has a better winning percentage against Lake Superior State than any other GLIAC opponent. The Lakers have winning records against only three GLIAC Teams: Ferris State, Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State.
• Lake Superior State's last victory came in 2005-06 by a 96-94 score in overtime.

THE LAST MEETING
• On Dec. 6, 2006, Edinboro notched a 63-57 win after opening a 38-16 lead by the end of the first half. Despite shooting just 32.4 percent from the field and going 0-of-6 from 3-point range, the Lakers closed the gap with a 41-point second half and eventually tied the game at 54-54 with 3:11 remaining.
• Edinboro, however, received a three-point play from Joseph Jones and hit eight free throws down the stretch to win.
• Shelby Chaney led the Lakers with 22 points. Mercyhurst was without the services of Terry Smith, however, as he sat out because of an injury. • Edinboro was led by Kyree Brown's 14 points and Curtis Ingram's 13.
• On Jan. 20, 2007, the Lakers hosted Lake Superior State and picked up a 66-62 win despite being outscored 38-35 in the second half. Avi Fogel led all scorers with 22 and Terry Smith chipped in 10. It also proved to be T.J. Mathis' lowest scoring game of the season, as he managed just three points.
• Lake Superior State had four players score in double figures and Mike Rader led the team with 13 points.

MIXING IT UP
• Mercyhurst has had a different starting lineup in all seven games this season. Ten different players have earned at least one start, and only T.J. Mathis and Terry Smith have started all seven games. Brian McTear has also started the last five outings and Iddo Cochen has had six starts.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
• Several Laker newcomers are making an immediate impact. In the season opener against Roberts Wesleyan, Milos Bogetic 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. He also tallied a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards against IUP on Nov. 25.
• Junior Brian McTear has provided some offensive punch, as well, scoring in double figures in six of the team's first seven games and leading the team with a career-high 15 points against IUP on Nov. 25. McTear also ranks eighth in the GLIAC in assists (3.86 per game) and seventh in assist/turnover ratio. On the year, McTear is averaging 12.3 points per game and has handed out 27 assists while committing just 14 turnovers.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
• 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 seven games this season, he has moved from 24th to 15th on the all-time scoring list and can move in front of Danny Brown for 14th with two more points.
• Entering Thursday's game, Smith has 147 3-point field goal makes in his career (25 this season) and is closing in on Jason Ioppolo's (1995-98) career record of 172. Smith also has 394 3-pointers attempted and is 144 shy of Richard Bradley's record of 538.

MERCYHURST MILESTONES
• 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.
• In just four seasons, Gary Manchel has moved into third-place on Mercyhurst's list of all-time winningest coaches with 65 victories. But in his 14 years of coaching, he has compiled a career record of 196-179, leaving him four wins shy of 200.

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 1-1 this year, boosting the program's mark to 78-122. The team has also made six conference tournament appearances.
• Three of those 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.

BOMBS AWAY
• Through the first five games of the season, the Lakers have hit an average of 8.29 3-pointers per game, which ranks fourth in the GLIAC. The team has drilled 58-of-160 3-point shots and has made at least five in each game. Terry Smith leads the team with 25 threes and is shooting an impressive 42.4 percent. Srdjan Popovic has been just as impressive in fewer attempts, knocking down 8-of-16 to rank ninth in the GLIAC in 3-point percentage.
• With 58 3-pointers through just seven games, the Lakers are on pace to hit 223 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.
• Individually, Terry Smith is on pace to make 96 3-point field goals (averaging 3.6 per game). The current single season record is 77 and is held by Kerry Baker (1992-93). Smith is also on pace to attempt 227 3-pointers, which would snap Richard Bradley's record of 200 that he set in 1998-99.

SENIOR MOMENT
• Senior Cory Tubo entered last week with no career starts and a career high of eight points and five rebounds. But against Michigan Tech on Nov. 29, he not only logged his first start and a career-high with 29 minutes, but he also tallied a career-best 15 points, going 5-of-5 from the field and 5-of-5 from the stripe. Two days later against Northern Michigan, he hauled in a career-high seven rebounds.

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 17 in just seven games for an average of 2.43 per game. Mathis ranks third in the GLIAC in steals per game.
• Terry Smith and Anthony Terry are also getting in on the act. Smith ranks fourth with 14 steals (2 per game) and Terry is eighth with 13 (1.86 per game).

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.
• Individually, Terry Smith was picked to the Preseason All-GLIAC team. He was a second team selection in 2005-06 as a sophomore.

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.

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 2-1.
• 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 26-6 record at home, and that is the third best mark in GLIAC to Grand Valley at 31-1 and Findlay at 33-1.