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ERIE – Sophomore guard Zach Sheetz (Landisville/Hempfield) of the Bloomsburg University men's basketball team was locked in from long distance as he scored a career-high 15 points in a 65-52 loss to Mercyhurst University Saturday evening in the final game of a season-long, five-game road trip in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
 
Sheetz started for the second straight game and showed off his long range talents.  He made five three-pointers and scored a career-high 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
 
Bloomsburg (2-9, 0-7 PSAC) shot 38 percent from the field and 35 from beyond the arc.  Despite shooting two fewer shots than Bloomsburg, Mercyhurst (9-4, 5-2) was very effective with the ball on the offensive end as it shot 51 percent from the field and 9-for-15 (60 percent) from three-point range.
 
Senior guard Nnamdi Njoku (Westampton, NJ/Rancocas Valley) scored eight points for the Huskies in the setback, his second highest output of the season.  Lorenzo Christmas (Norristown/Norristown) chipped in seven points and tied Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) for a team-best four rebounds.  Haigler also dished out a game-high five assists and scored five points.
 
Sheetz got off to a great start by scoring a team-high nine points off three three-pointers in the first half alone.
 
The teams battled back-and-forth for the opening five minutes. Holding an 11-10 advantage over the Huskies, Mercyhurst went on a 13-3 run to take an 11-point, 24-13 lead at the 8:30 mark of the opening half.  The Lakers took a 34-23 lead into the break.
 
Sheetz opened the second half with his fourth three-pointer of the night as Bloomsburg used a 6-2 stint to cut the deficit to seven at 36-29. However, it was as close as the Huskies got to pulling off a comeback as Mercyhurst responded with a 10-0 run to extend its lead to 17 at 46-29.
 
Luis Leao, a 6-5 center from Brazil, led Mercyhurst with 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting.  He also had a game-high nine rebounds and three steals.  Paul Bilbo chipped in 10 points and four rebounds for the Lakers.  Six different players hit a three-pointer for Mercyhurst.
 
Bloomsburg now returns home for three straight games.  It takes on Lock Haven and Clarion on Jan. 11-12 at the Nelson Field House in the final PSAC crossover weekend of the season.  Tipoff for both games is set for 7:30 p.m.