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SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
• Urbana is averaging 72 points per game, but has surrendered 86.1 points per game. The team has also knocked down just .393 percent of its field goal attempts and is shooting .255 from 3-point range. Only two players, Jo-Jo Peterson and Harold Haynes are averaging in double figures. At the other end, teams are hitting shots to the tune of 53.9 percent.
• Urbana is coming off a 93-60 loss at Central State and the Blue Knights have allowed 80 or more points in four of the last five games. Also, only two of the team's nine games have been at home.
• Salem International has played a formidable schedule in the early season, facing 2007 NCAA Tournament teams West Liberty State and California (Pa.), as well as Wheeling Jesuit.
• Anthony King and Chris Carey have shared the scoring load, as they have each led the team in scoring twice. Curtis Dorsey, averaging 9.3 points per game, has led the team in three of the four games.
• The Tigers feature a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging double figures. Carey leads the way with 15.8 points per outing, and King, scoring 14.5 per game, is shooting .529 from the floor.
• Monday's opponent, Ohio Valley, is led by guard Stephen Camberis, who is averaging 11.3 points per game. Harris Danesi has chipped in 11.1 per contest. The Fighting Scots have committed 15 more turnovers than their opponents, are shooting .586 from the free throw line and have given up 86.3 points per game.
ABOUT THE SERIES
• Mercyhurst and Urbana have met only once, and that came in the season opener to the 2004-05 season. Mercyhurst won the game 67-54.
• Mercyhurst and Salem International have tangled five times, with the Tigers holding a slight 3-2 edge in the series. The teams, however, have not met since 1993-94 when Salem International was still Salem Teikyo. The teams met twice that season. The Lakers won 110-101 in overtime in the first meeting but fell 113-69 in the rematch.
• Mercyhurst holds a 2-0 lead in the series with Ohio Valley. The first meeting came on Nov. 27, 2005 and the Lakers earned a 90-58 victory at home. The Lakers won by five on the road last year, as well.
THE LAST MEETING
• On Nov. 15, 2004, the Lakers topped Urbana behind 18 points from Jawad Ali. Current senior Terry Smith was the only Laker on the current team to play in that game and he scored six points, grabbed eight boards and handed out six assists.
• On Nov. 25, 2006, Mercyhurst made its first trip to the state of West Virginia since 1995 and captured an 85-82 victory over Ohio Valley. T.J. Mathis scored a then career-high 19 points.
• In the second meeting of the 1993-94 season, Salem Teikyo totaled 113 points to send the Lakers to their fifth loss of the season. Willie Coleman led three Tigers with 20 points and Mercyhurst's Gerry Battle scored 18.
MIXING IT UP
• Mercyhurst has had a different starting lineup in seven of the nine games this season. Ten different players have earned at least one start, and only T.J. Mathis and Terry Smith have started all nine games. Brian McTear has also started the last seven outings and Iddo Cochen has had eight starts.
• The only lineup to be used more than once was Cohen at forward, Cory Tubo at center, and Smith, Mathis and McTear at guard.
DOUBLE UP
• Against Edinboro on Dec. 5, senior T.J. Mathis scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds for his first career double-double. He is the second Laker to notch a double-double this season, as Milos Bogetic has two double-doubles to his credit.
BLOCK PARTY
• Freshman Iddo Cohen has quickly made his presence felt on the defensive end, as he currently ranks fourth in the GLIAC in blocks per game (1.78). His most impressive outing of the season came last week 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.
FRESHMAN EXPERIENCE
• In his last two outings, Anthony Terry has turned in his most productive games of the season. Against Edinboro, he scored 12 points and hit 5-of-5 free throws. At Lake Superior State, he led the team with a season-high four assists.
MOUNTAIN STATE MEETINGS
• The Lakers face two WVIAC members this weekend in Salem and Ohio Valley. All-time, the Lakers are 26-18 against WVIAC schools. Under head coach Gary Manchel, the team is 5-0 against WVIAC foes.
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 nine games this season, he has moved from 24th to 12th on the all-time scoring list with 1,057 points. He now trails Jon Berkeley with 1,107.
• Smith has 155 3-point field goal makes in his career (33 this season) and is closing in on Jason Ioppolo's (1995-98) career record of 172. Smith also has 413 3-pointers attempted and is 125 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 196-181, leaving him four wins shy of 200.
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.
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 1-2 this year, boosting the program's mark to 78-123. 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 nine games of the season, the Lakers have hit an average of 8 3-pointers per game, which ranks fifth in the GLIAC. The team has drilled 72-of-203 3-point shots and has made at least five in each game. Terry Smith leads the team with 33 threes and is shooting an impressive 42.3 percent.
• With 72 3-pointers through just nine games, the Lakers are on pace to hit 216 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 99 3-point field goals (averaging 3.7 per game). The current single season record is 77 and is held by Kerry Baker (1992-93). Smith is also on pace to attempt 234 3-pointers, which would snap Richard Bradley's record of 200 that he set in 1998-99.
STEALING THE SHOW
• Mercyhurst's guards have been pestering opponents this season, with three players ranking in the top 10 in the conference in steals. Terry Smith leads the way with 2.22 steals per game, ranking second in the GLIAC. Against Edinboro on Dec. 5, Smith tallied a career-high five 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. He is off to a fast start in 2007-08, as well, totaling 19 in just nine games for an average of 2.11 per game. Mathis ranks fifth in the GLIAC in steals per game.
• Anthony Terry is also getting in on the act. He ranks tenth in the conference with 15 (1.67 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.
