ERIE, Pa. (February 7, 2015) – An 0-for-15 shooting drought and a Mercyhurst second half run plagued the Edinboro men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon, as the Fighting Scots fell by a score of 61-53 to the host Lakers in a PSAC Western Division contest at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. Edinboro moved to 11-11 overall and 8-10 in conference play, while Mercyhurst improved to 16-7 and 13-5, respectively.

The Fighting Scots jumped out to a 7-0 lead after a pair of free throws by Quinn Lee Yaw at the 16:32 mark of the opening period.

With 11:38 to play in the first half, a Will Marrow jumper gave Edinboro a 13-8 advantage. The Fighting Scots then missed 15 consecutive shots over a span of nearly nine minutes of action.
 

Fortunately for Edinboro, Mercyhurst made just 4-of-17 field goals during that time and held a 17-16 lead when Jaymon Mason ended the dry spell with a 3-pointer at the 2:47 mark of the first half. Sheldon Brogdon converted a layup to give the Fighting Scots an 18-17 advantage at the break.

In the second half, Edinboro held that one-point lead at 27-26 with 14:25 to play in the game, before the Lakers constructed a 13-2 run gain a 39-29 advantage with 10:11 showing on the clock.

Mercyhurst stretched the run to 17-6 to take its largest lead of the night of 12 points at 46-34 with just over seven minutes to play in the game.

The Lakers would again own this 12-point advantage with 5:51 remaining, before Edinboro used a 10-5 surge to cut the deficit to six points at 51-45 at the 2:08 mark of the second half.

The Fighting Scots would shrink Mercyhurst's lead to six points on four more occasions, but this is as close as the Fighting Scots would come, as Mercyhurst was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final minute of play to hold on for the eight-point conference win.

Mason paced Edinboro with 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting and a 4-of-5 performance from the free throw line. Henri Wade-Chatman added 14 points making 5-of-14 field goals while matching a team-high with four rebounds.

Lee Yaw and Will Marrow each grabbed four boards for the Fighting Scots, as well. Lee Yaw made his first career start for Edinboro Saturday. Sam Sealy-James posted a game-high five blocked shots.

Gerrae Williams was the only Laker to score in double-figures with 13 points, knocking down 9-of-10 free throws in the win.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball, as Edinboro connected on 32.8 percent (19-of-58) of shots from the field. The Fighting Scots shot 46.2 percent (12-of-26) in the second half, improving on their 21.9 percent (7-of-32) showing in the opening stanza. Mercyhurst finished shooting 34.0 percent (17-of-50) for the game.

Edinboro was 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from behind the arc, compared to the Lakers' 18.2 percent (2-of-11) mark from long range. The Fighting Scots were 73.3 percent (11-of-15) from the free throw line, while Mercyhurst hit 83.3 percent (25-of-30) of shots from the charity stripe, including 90.9 percent (20-of-22) in the second half.

Edinboro returns to action hosting Slippery Rock on Wednesday night. The game is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. at McComb Fieldhouse.