One pretty good half is enough as Syracuse defeats Mercyhurst, 76-62

The Orange took advantage of their lesser opponent early, but never truly put the Lakers away

Dec 17, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Mercyhurst Lakers guard Deshaun Jackson Jr. (7) shoots against Syracuse Orange guard Nate Kingz (4) during the first half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

Syracuse played one effective half and one less impressive half on Wednesday night, only the effective half enabled them to claim a 76-62 home victory over Mercyhurst.  The Orange (7-4) outscored the Lakers (4-8) by 16 in the first half, but were outscored in a second half where they were essentially content to trade baskets with the visitors.

While the first half was productive on the scoreboard, SU still showed some of their faults for all to see.  They committed ten miscues, but made up for it by rolling up a 27-15 rebounding advantage as William Kyle III and Sadiq White outrebounded Mercyhurst by themselves.

The second half was a different story

After halftime, Syracuse was less impressive.  While they were never threatened by the Lakers, the Orange never made an assertive move to put away the visitors.  The two teams alternated scores for almost the entire second half with each team posting back-to-back scores three times and the margin staying between 13 and 19 points.

The smaller Mercyhurst team owned a 17-12 advantage on the glass in the second half and also held edges in second chance points and points off turnovers.

Once again, Syracuse's senior got out of the gates quickly

J.J. Starling got off to a hot start for the second straight game, needing just over five-and-a-half minutes to score ten points, matching the Mercyhurst output in that time.  Naithan George also had five points in that time as SU held a 17-10 lead after a Starling 3-pointer closed his hot start.

The Lakers scored twice to pull within three, but Syracuse responded with their biggest run of the game, tallying 11 straight points to push their lead into double figures.  Kyle and Kiyan Anthony scored twice, then George force a Mercyhurst timeout with a 3-pointer with the Orange doubling up their guests, 28-14.

Anthony connected from beyond the arc, as did Starling again, to stretch SU’s lead to its largest point of the first half at 39-23 headed to the break.  George pushed the lead to 18 coming out of the break with a pair of free throws.

The Lakers drew within 14 within a couple minutes and almost the rest of the half was played within that range, save for a couple times when Syracuse pushed their lead out to 19 points and Mercyhurst trimmed it down to 13.

The Orange had a balanced offense on the night with five players scoring between 12 and 15 points.  Kyle and Starling each had 15 points with Kyle grabbing ten boards for a double-double and swatting five shots.  Sadiq White Jr. Just missed his own double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.  Anthony and George each added a dozen points.

Jake Lemelman paced all scorers with 18 points in the second half and 23 overall in a losing effort, hitting three triples and grabbing four steals along the way.  Bernie Blunt was the only other Laker in double figures with 15.  Mykolaus Ivanauskas and Qadir Martin each posted nine points and eight rebounds.

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