The Mercyhurst Prep Lakers waltzed into their matchup on Friday with six straight wins but they left with seven. They walked away with a 55-44 win over Iroquois. Given Mercyhurst Prep's advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 221st, while Iroquois is ranked 487th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Craig Buckner, who scored 18 points along with seven rebounds and four steals. Another player making a difference was Jeremy Ganska, who scored 17 points.
When it comes to explaining why Iroquois lost, one person who can't be blamed is Kellen Burroughs. Despite the final result, he dropped a double-double on 21 points and 11 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Devin Brink, who scored ten points along with six rebounds.
Mercyhurst Prep's victory was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 12-7. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.3 points per game. As for Iroquois, they have been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-10 record this season.
Mercyhurst Prep won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Erie at 5:30 p.m. on February 10th. Averaging 56.58 points so far this season, Mercyhurst Prep's high-powered offense has been in full-swing lately, so Erie better be ready for a challenge. As for Iroquois, they will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against Northwestern at 7:30 p.m. The pair have had a bumpy ride up to this point with 18 consecutive losses for Northwestern and three for Iroquois.
