LIU hosts Mercyhurst following Fuller’s 21-point outing

By Canadian Press on January 8, 2026.

Mercyhurst Lakers (6-9, 1-1 NEC) at Long Island Sharks (8-7, 2-0 NEC)

New York; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: LIU faces Mercyhurst after Jamal Fuller scored 21 points in LIU’s 74-55 victory over the Chicago State Cougars.

The Sharks are 3-1 in home games. LIU gives up 79.3 points and has been outscored by 2.4 points per game.

The Lakers have gone 1-1 against NEC opponents. Mercyhurst is the best team in the NEC giving up only 66.9 points per game while holding opponents to 43.6% shooting.

LIU makes 48.1% of its shots from the field this season, which is 4.5 percentage points higher than Mercyhurst has allowed to its opponents (43.6%). Mercyhurst’s 44.8% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.1 percentage points lower than LIU has given up to its opponents (46.9%).

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

TOP PERFORMERS: Fuller averages 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Sharks, scoring 16.2 points while shooting 49.1% from beyond the arc. Malachi Davis is shooting 43.8% and averaging 17.4 points over the past 10 games.

Bernie Blunt is scoring 16.6 points per game with 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists for the Lakers. Jake Lemelman is averaging 12.6 points and two steals over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Sharks: 5-5, averaging 77.6 points, 31.4 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 8.8 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 48.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 79.0 points per game.

Lakers: 3-7, averaging 65.2 points, 28.0 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 8.4 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.6 points.

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

The Associated Press

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