ERIE, Pa. – Mercyhurst College men's head basketball coach Gary Manchel has announced the Lakers 2010-11 schedule. The 26 game tilt consists of 14 home games, including the annual Mercyhurst Classic on December 11-12. 

The schedule also includes 14 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division contests and four PSAC crossover contests against team from the Eastern Division. Those crossover games do not count toward the division standings. 

The Lakers' kick off the season on the road at the Shippensburg University Tournament where they will take on Philadelphia University and Nyack College on November 19-20 before competing in the home opener against Lake Erie on November 27. 

After an away contest at Urbana on December 2, Mercyhurst returns to the friendly confines of the Mercyhurst Athletic Center for five straight games beginning on December 6 against Mansfield and ending with Urbana on December 15. 

In that stretch the Lakers will host the Mercyhurst Classic, with Washington Adventist, St. Michael's and Davis & Elkins also on the ticket. 

Then, the Lakers don't return to the hardwood until PSAC crossover action on January 3 and 4 at Kutztown and East Stroudsburg, respectively. 

Mercyhurst hosts the second wave of crossover contests on January 8 and 9 against Mansfield and Bloomsburg on January 8 and 9 before beginning PSAC West play at Lock Haven on Jan. 12. 

The Lakers have only one home stand longer than two games during divisional play as they host Indiana (Pa.) on January 29, Edinboro on February 2 and Lock Haven on February 5. Mercyhurst closes the season with back-to-back road games at Edinboro on Feb. 23 and at IUP on Feb. 26. 

Both contests against city rival Gannon will be played midweek, with the first game slated for Jan. 26 at Gannon and the second contest on Feb. 16 at Mercyhurst. 

PSAC postseason play begins March 1 with quarterfinal action. The top four teams in each division qualify for postseason play, with the highest remaining seed in the Western Division earning the right to host the Final Four on March 4-5. 

All non-weekend home games will be played at 7:30 p.m., with weekend contests slated for a 3 p.m. start. To view the entire schedule, please click here. 

Mercyhurst finished the 2009-10 season 18-10, earning a PSAC postseason berth with an 8-6 record in PSAC West play. The Lakers doubled their divisional win total from 2008-09. The team qualified for the conference tournament for the fifth time in seven years under head coach Gary Manchel. Manchel surpassed Karl Fogel as the winningest coach in program history Feb. 6 vs. Slippery Rock. 

Schedule Note:
The 2010-11 season was reduced to 26 regular-season games in conjunction with the “NCAA Division II Life in the Balance” initiative.