Box Score Steve Ware scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds as the Misericordia University men's basketball team overcame a cold-shooting first half to defeat King's College, 63-54, in Freedom Conference action Wednesday night at the Anderson Center.
 
Anthony Sergio scored 11 points off the bench for the Cougars while Cael Evans added 10 points and Justin Grotevant pulled down 11 rebounds.
 
In what was a defensive slugfest for much of the first half, it was MU (9-9, 5-2 Freedom) who jumped out to a 16-5 lead with 10:05 to play in the first half behind three consecutive Sergio threes.
 
The Monarchs (8-10, 3-4) would use a 9-1 run to close the gap to 17-14 and held the Cougars without a field goal for nearly eight and a half minutes, but the Monarchs managed just two field goals of their own during that stretch. A Steve Ware layup with 1:36 to play finally broke the Cougars' drought and gave them a 22-14 lead. Tim O'Shea would make a layup to cut the lead to six with 1:09 remaining and the Cougars held that lead going into the locker room.
 
Sergio led the Cougars with nine first-half points while O'Shea led King's with seven. Both teams struggled to shoot in the first half, as MU converted on just 28 percent of its attempts (7-25) while King's made just 21 percent of its shots (6-28).
 
MU maintained it's lead at six early in the second half as jumpers by Matt Greene and Sean Bieski would answer a pair of Monarchs baskets. King's would use an 8-0 run, capped by a Kyle Hammonds jumper to take the lead at 28-26 with 13:36 to play, but that would be their final lead of the game.
 
A pair of Ware free throws tied the game at 28-28 and Evans converted off a feed from Sergio and finished the three-point play to put MU back on top 31-28. A Hammonds layup would cut the lead to 31-30, but the Cougars would go on a 17-7 run spanning nearly five minutes to take a 48-37 lead with 5:38 remaining.
 
The Cougars would match that 11-point lead just a few moments later when Ware made a beautiful reverse pivot along the baseline to lay the ball in the hoop and put MU up 51-40.
 
King's would make one more push, using a 7-1 run to cut the lead to 52-47 on an Ian Oakley layup with 2:18 remaining, but the Ware and Sergio would score back-to-back baskets to extend the lead back to nine. From there, MU held on from the foul line, going 7-8 in the final minute to seal the victory.
 
Hammonds led the Monarchs with a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds, while Oakley grabbed 11 rebounds to go with his six points.
 
The Cougars shot 42 percent from the floor during the second half while holding King's to 39 percent shooting. Much of the second half was played at the foul line, as the two teams combined for 46 free throw attempts after the break.
 
With the win, the Cougars remain tied with Delaware Valley for second place in the Freedom Conference standings. The Cougars travel to FDU-Florham on Saturday for a 3:00 Freedom contest.