ERIE, PA – Saginaw Valley State University couldn't hold off a late charge by Mercyhurst College and dropped its fourth straight game, 80-78, Saturday.
     The Cardinals played a stellar first half and led by as many as 16 points, 40-24 with 1:24 left in the first half. The Lakers scored the last six points of the half to trail 40-30 at intermission.
     SVSU built the lead to 19 points, 59-40, with 11:49 left in the second half then watched the hosts heat up. Mercyhurst made four three pointers and took advantage of 13 second-half turnovers by the Cards to make a run.
     A 16-2 Laker scoring run cut the lead to just five points with 6:05 left. A dunk by Jamal Holley capped the comeback and gave MC a 70-69 lead with 2:23 left.
     Junior Vernon Malone (Kankakee, IL) answered with a jumper for SVSU, but Richard Bradley canned a pair of free throws with two minutes left to put Mercyhurst up for good.
     Senior Jeff Harris (South Bend, IN/St. Joseph's) hit a triple with eight seconds left to pull SVSU within a point, but Holley iced the game with a pair of free throws.
     Malone led SVSU with 22 points and four assists, while sophomore Terrence Wright (Saginaw/Buena Vista) scored 17 and Harris added 14. Senior Greg Mallek (Merrill) scored nine points, but cleared a game-high 14 rebounds and blocked four shots.
     The Lakers were led by Richard Bradley with 27 points, while Holley scored 19 and Dion Brown added 18 points and 13 rebounds.
     Saginaw Valley falls to 2-5 overall and is 0-4 in the GLIAC North Division for the first time since an 0-8 league start in 1987-88. Mercyhurst improved to 5-2 overall and 1-2 in the league.
     SVSU takes a four-week break from league play to regroup. The Cardinals travel to Concordia College on Monday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m.

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