The Misericordia University men's basketball team opened the second semester with an 81-75 loss to Moravian in the opening round of the Greyhound Starter's Classic, Saturday.

Ethan Eichhorst led four Cougars in double figures with 20 points and had a team-high six rebounds.
Dom Del Prete had 16 points and Robbie Johnson had 13 while Sean Bieski added 12 points off the bench.

MU led 37-35 at halftime, but shot just 22.2% (2-9) from the foul line in the second half.

The lead exchanged hands throughout the second half and the score was tied, 65-65, with 3:26 to play.

Moravian scored five straight points to go ahead for good, 70-65.

Del Prete's jumper got MU within 70-67, but the Greyhounds scored six straight points for a 76-67 lead with less than a minute to play.

MU trailed by as many as 11 points (26-15) late in the first half before closing the period on a 22-9 run.

Eichhorst sank a pair of free throws and nailed a three to cut the deficit to 26-20 with 5:17 to play.

Johnson sandwiched a pair of free throws and a jumper around a Jeff Slanovec three-pointer to get within two, 33-31, with 1:36 to go in the half.

Bieski converted a Marcus Little steal into a layup to forge a 33-33 tie and Bieski added another layup for a 35-35 lead.

Little closed the period with two free throws for a 37-35 lead.

The Cougars, 6-4, will play in the consolation game, Sunday at 1:00