The Misericordia University men's basketball team led by as much as nine but could never get going offensively in the second half as they fell 69-61 to top-seeded DeSales in the Freedom Conference championship game.

The Cougars finish an impressive season at 16-11 overall, winning eight of their last ten conference games. Both losses came on the road to DeSales.

Senior Dom Del Prete finished with 15 points while sophomore Robbie Johnson added 14. Senior point guard Marcus Little had four assists and a team-high seven rebounds.

The game was tale of two halves, as Misericordia followed a 53.8% first-half shooting performance by converting just 30.8% in the second half. DeSales shot a red-hot 61.9% in the second period after hitting just 39.3% in the first.

MU had opened the second period with points from Jeff Slanovec, Del Prete and Johnson (from the free throw line) to open up a nine-point advantage, their largest lead of the game.

With Misericordia leading 41-33, DeSales ripped off a 12-2 run to retake the lead for the first time since 7:10 into the game. A pair of free throws by Johnson tied the game up at 45-45 before Del Prete made one of two from the line to put the Cougars back up by one.

It was the last time the Cougars would be ahead, as DeSales answered with nine straight points to open up a 55-46 gap. When Johnson executed a spin move in the lane for two points, he ended a brutal stretch of 9:38 without an MU field goal.

The Cougars made it somewhat interesting down the stretch with threes from Slanovec and Ethan Eichhorst, but MU could get no closer than six points.

DeSales earned their second consecutive Freedom Conference title and will return to the NCAA Tournament after going all the way to the Elite Eight in 2009.

After DeSales had jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, the Cougars answered with a 12-2 run. A great cut to the hoop by Johnson put MU up 7-4 before a pair of baskets by senior Mark Williams stretched that advantage to 12-6.

The Bulldogs responded with a 7-0 run, but Slanovec finally snapped MU's slump with a trey. With 10:57 remaining in the opening period, Little pulled up on a fast break and found a trailing Del Prete for a three-pointer that put the Cougars up 24-19.

With 2:36 left in the half, freshman Sean Bieski made one of two free throws but Mark Leonard was there to put back the miss, and to put Misericordia up 33-26. The Bulldogs hit four free throws to reduce the deficit to 33-30, but the Cougars entered halftime with a surprise lead.