ERIE, Pa. (Interstat) — The Mercyhurst Lakers used a dominant first half to cruise past the New Haven Chargers 70-51 in a Northeast Conference men’s basketball game Thursday night at Mercyhurst Athletic Center.

Mercyhurst built a commanding 41-25 halftime lead and never looked back, improving to 11-11 overall. New Haven fell to 9-12.

Andre Pasha led all scorers with 15 points for New Haven. Mercyhurst had a balanced attack, with Mykolaus Ivanauskas scoring 14 points and Qadir Martin adding 12. Bernie Blunt facilitated the Lakers’ offense with a game-high six assists.

An announced crowd of 900 watched the Lakers sweep the second half of the home-and-home series after the teams split the season series.