Box Score The Misericordia University men's basketball team scored just one field goal in the first 9:32 of the second half and Matt Greene's three-point attempt at the buzzer wouldn't fall as the Cougars dropped a 60-57 decision to Delaware Valley Saturday afternoon.
 
Greene led the Cougars with 13 points and four assists while Justin Grotevant added 11 points and six rebounds.
 
The Cougars got off to a bit of a slow start, scoring just two points over the first six minutes of action as the Aggies jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. Back-to-back layups by Steve Ware would close the MU deficit to 7-6, but a Jay Donavan three-pointer and a Chris Moran layup would extend Delaware Valley's lead back to 12-6—their largest of the game.
 
After trading baskets to cut the deficit to 17-13, the Cougars rattled off 12 unanswered points, taking a 25-17 lead on a Cael Evans layup with 2:43 remaining in the first half.
 
A Greene three-pointer with 48 seconds left in the period would put MU up 10 at 32-22 and Joe Busacca answered a Nick Sullivan jumper with one of his own with just seven seconds remaining to send the Cougars into the locker room with a 34-24 halftime lead.
 
Busacca led the Cougars in the first half with eight points in just seven minutes off the bench. The Cougars shot 46 from the floor in the period (13-28), including 43 percent from three-point range (3-7), while holding the Aggies to just 31 percent shooting (9-29).
 
After a Ware layup just eight seconds into the second half extended the Cougar lead to 12 points, Delaware Valley went on a 19-1 run spanning over nine minutes to match their largest lead of the game at 43-37 with 10:44 remaining.
 
A Greene jumper broke the drought and closed the gap to four, and, after a Francis Arnold layup, the Cougars used a 10-0 run of their own, highlighted by a pair of Greene threes, to regain the lead at 49-45.
 
After a pair of Zach Sly free throws cut the Cougar lead to two, Busacca found a cutting Grotevant for a layup and the foul, and Grotevant would complete the three-point play to extend the MU lead to 52-47 with 3:58 remaining.
 
The Aggies scored four unanswered to whittle the lead to one point, but Jesse Urich hit a huge corner three to push the Cougar lead to four and Grotevant answered an Arnold layup with one of his own as MU led 57-53 with just a minute remaining. However, the Aggies would close the game on a 7-0 run to earn the hard-fought victory.
 
Jeremy Beckett led Delaware Valley with a game-high 14 points and 12 rebounds while Jay Donovan added 13 points.
 
The Cougars shot just 30 percent in the second half and made just two of four free throws, including a key miss late on the front end of a one-and-one that would have given MU the lead. Meanwhile, the Aggies shot 41 percent from the floor and were a perfect 13-13 from the charity stripe in the victory.
 
The Cougars will look to get back on track on Wednesday when they host King's at 8:00 PM. That game will be televised locally by MyNetwork TV.