Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash (6-15, 4-4 NEC) at Mercyhurst Lakers (11-12, 6-4 NEC)

Erie, Pennsylvania; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Mercyhurst hosts Saint Francis (PA) after Jake Lemelman scored 21 points in Mercyhurst’s 78-74 loss to the Chicago State Cougars.

The Lakers have gone 8-2 at home. Mercyhurst is ninth in the NEC with 7.4 offensive rebounds per game led by Qadir Martin averaging 2.0.

The Red Flash are 4-4 in NEC play. Saint Francis (PA) ranks fifth in the NEC shooting 33.9% from 3-point range.

Mercyhurst’s average of 6.0 made 3-pointers per game is 3.2 fewer made shots on average than the 9.2 per game Saint Francis (PA) allows. Saint Francis (PA) averages 70.0 points per game, 4.7 more than the 65.3 Mercyhurst gives up to opponents.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bernie Blunt is shooting 34.1% from beyond the arc with 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Lakers, while averaging 15.7 points. Lemelman is averaging 14.4 points and 3.4 assists over the last 10 games.

Skylar Wicks is scoring 17.2 points per game with 7.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the Red Flash. Ahmad Harrison is averaging 11.7 points and 3.4 assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lakers: 6-4, averaging 67.1 points, 28.9 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 6.9 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.1 points per game.

Red Flash: 4-6, averaging 71.1 points, 27.0 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 7.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.3 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.