A big second half comeback by Eastern doomed the Misericordia men's basketball team as they fell 81-74 despite leading by as many as 14 points. The Cougars lost for the first time in Freedom Conference play this season and fell to 5-2, 1-1.

With a comfortable 53-40 Cougar advantage early in the second period, the Eagles suddenly caught fire and went on a 22-6 run to take the lead. The Cougars did not manage a field goal during that stretch.

Robbie Johnson finally broke MU's slump, banking in a shot to end a stretch of 9:20 without a field goal. Eastern answered with two quick buckets to take a 70-65 advantage.

An Ethan Eichhorst fast break cut the lead to one, but again Eastern answered with a basket. Then Jeff Slanovec hit a big three-pointer to tie the game at 72 with 2:10 to play.

Eastern scored the next five points however, and made their free throws down the stretch to close it out.

Del Prete led the Cougars with 22 points, while Slanovec had 20. Johnson contributed 13 points and seven assists, while point guard Marcus Little led MU with six rebounds.

The Cougars' biggest play of the game came at the end of the first half. After baskets by Del Prete (a three-pointer) and Johnson to seemingly close out the half, Slanovec stole the Eastern inbound pass and sunk a buzzer beater. His smart play allowed MU to enter halftime up 39-28 after only leading by four heading into the final minute.

Del Prete had scored Misericordia's first five points of the game, but Eastern answered with an early 7-0 run. Johnson stopped the streak with a leaner in the lane.

Johnnson then took back the lead with a fast break bucket, a lead that Slanovec soon stretched to eight with a shooter's-roll three-pointer that made the score 30-22, Cougars.

The teams traded baskets early in the second half. Slanovec hit a long three-pointer to put MU up 44-30, before a 5-0 Eastern spurt was broken by a Johnson three-pointer.

With 15 minutes to play, another Slanovec three-pointer followed by a Del Prete three-point play established the 53-40 gap and left little indication of the torrid Eastern run that was about to occur.

The Cougars travel to Susquehanna on Wednesday and will play five straight non-league contests before resuming Freedom Conference play on January 9, at home to DeSales.