Here's what's next for Mercyhurst men, Gannon women in Division II postseason basketball
The Gannon women's basketball team and the Mercyhurst men's basketball team were on the brink of greatness Sunday.
Whether it was a heartbreaking miss at the buzzer or running out of gas in a valiant comeback, both teams suffered heartbreaking losses in the PSAC championship games.
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The Golden Knights and the Lakers, however, will look to pick themselves up and get ready for the NCAA Division II tournament, which is set to begin later this week.
Gannon (29-4) will travel to Glenville State in West Virginia and Mercyhurst (24-5) heads back to a familiar gym as IUP hosts the men's basketball Atlantic Regional.
Despite a 75-63 loss to Cal on Sunday, nationally-ranked Gannon was still granted the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Regional and will play No. 7 Charleston (West Virginia) on Friday in the afternoon. The other matchup in Gannon's side of the bracket is a rematch of the PSAC semifinals with No. 3 West Chester taking on No. 6 Cal.
The Gannon-Charleston winner and the Cal-West Chester winner meet in the region semifinals on Saturday at 5 p.m. with the championship and a trip to Dallas for the Elite Eight set for Monday at 7 p.m. The other half of the Atlantic Region bracket as No. 1 Glenville State, a top-five team in the national rankings, against No. 8 Elizabeth City State and No. 4 Shippensburg playing No. 5 West Virginia State.
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IUP beat Mercyhurst 54-53 for the PSAC men's basketball championship Sunday to wrap up its fourth straight PSAC title. It also means IUP is hosting the Atlantic Regional for the fourth time in five years.
The Lakers (24-5) were granted the No. 3 seed and will take on No. 6 East Stroudsburg on Saturday in the first game of the tournament at noon, while No. 2 West Liberty, featuring former Mercyhurst star guard Steven Cannady, plays No. 7 Pitt-Johnstown at 2:30 p.m. The two winners meet in the region semifinals on Sunday at 5 p.m., and the region championship is scheduled for Tuesday. The other side of the bracket includes No. 1 IUP, one of the top teams in the country, taking on No. 8 Winston-Salem at 5 p.m. Saturday and No. 4 Virginia Union plays No. 5 Fairmont State at 7:30 p.m.
Furious comeback falls short
Just about everything went right for Cal in the first half while almost everything went wrong for Gannon. The Vulcans built a 19-point lead, but Emma Wright made two free throws and Emily Poling hit a jumper just before halftime to make it 38-23 Cal.
The Golden Knights continued to chip away at the lead in front of a raucous crowd of 527 that became louder with each Gannon bucket. Maddy Wheatley scored inside and Wright drained two free throws to get the Golden Knights within four points at 62-58 with 3 minutes left in the game.
Cal, however, shut down the comeback right away as Ciaira Loyd scored inside and after Gannon turned the ball over, Allycia Harris had an old-fashioned 3-point play to extend the lead back to nine points.
The Vulcans ended the game on a 13-5 run after Gannon worked the deficit down to four points. Halle Herrington led Cal with 20 points, while Harris had a monster game to be named tournament MVP with 19 points and 20 rebounds.
Villa Maria graduate Madison Demski led Gannon with 17 points, while Samantha Pirosko had 15 points and eight rebounds and Wheatley scored 13 points. Wright finished with eight points and reached 1,000 career points on an offensive putback early in the game. Wright's 1,007 points include 947 at Gannon and 60 with Grand Valley State.
Last season: Gannon women's basketball team repeats as PSAC champion; Mercyhurst men make NCAAs
Inches from a title
Mercyhurst held the powerful IUP offense scoreless over the final five minutes Sunday, but the Lakers came up just short of coming back from an eight-point deficit.
Tomiwa Sulaiman drilled a jumper with 5:03 to play to give the Crimson Hawks a 54-46 lead, their largest lead of the game. Aidan Richert responded immediately with a jumper before Nick Lang drilled a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 54-51 with 4:09 to play. Both teams dug in defensively and Jeff Planutis scored in the paint with 2:16 to play.
Down 54-53, Mercyhurst called a timeout with just a few seconds left to set up one final play. IUP defended the play well and Michael Bradley got off a long, contested 3-pointer that hit off the rim as time expired.
Lang led the Lakers with 16 points and five steals, while Bradley had 13 points and Planutis added 11. Sharon graduate Ethan Porterfield, who was named tournament MVP, led IUP with 18 points followed by Shawndale Jones and Strong Vincent grad David Morris with 12 points apiece. Sulaiman added 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks.
Last season: Strong Vincent graduate David Morris part of IUP's D-10 star trio; Hurst, GU set for NCAAs
Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNreisenweber.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Mercyhurst men, Gannon women suffer losses in PSAC basketball finals
