Mercyhurst hosts Cent. Conn. St. following Smith’s 34-point outing

By Canadian Press on January 18, 2026.

Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (10-6, 4-1 NEC) at Mercyhurst Lakers (7-11, 2-3 NEC)

Erie, Pennsylvania; Monday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Cent. Conn. St. plays Mercyhurst after Darin Smith Jr. scored 34 points in Cent. Conn. St.’s 98-90 victory against the Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash.

The Lakers are 5-2 in home games. Mercyhurst has a 5-4 record in games decided by 10 or more points.

The Blue Devils are 4-1 in NEC play. Cent. Conn. St. is 2-0 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

Mercyhurst makes 44.4% of its shots from the field this season, which is 2.1 percentage points higher than Cent. Conn. St. has allowed to its opponents (42.3%). Cent. Conn. St. averages 8.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.1 more made shots on average than the 6.2 per game Mercyhurst gives up.

The matchup Monday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bernie Blunt is averaging 16.1 points for the Lakers. Jake Lemelman is averaging 12.4 points, 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals over the last 10 games.

Jay Rodgers is averaging 11.8 points and 7.6 assists for the Blue Devils. Smith is averaging 21.7 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lakers: 4-6, averaging 66.8 points, 28.7 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 8.9 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.2 points per game.

Blue Devils: 6-4, averaging 78.6 points, 30.6 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 6.5 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 50.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.1 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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