Box Score The Misericordia University men's basketball team closed the first half on a 20-4 run and never looked back, snapping a four-game losing streak by cruising to an 83-59 victory over Freedom foe Eastern on Wednesday night at the Anderson Center.
 
Steve Ware had a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds to lead the Cougars while Matt Greene (15), Jesse Urich (13) and Cael Evans (11) each reached double figures as well.
 
The Cougars (7-7, 3-0 Freedom) jumped out to an early 13-1 run, highlighted by back-to-back baskets by Sean Bieski. The Eagles (2-12, 0-3 Freedom) would respond, using a 20-7 run of their own to take a 21-20 lead on a Kyle Malloy three-point play with 7:35 remaining in the first half.
 
That lead would be short lived, as Greene found an open Urich for a three in the left corner just nine seconds later that would give MU the lead for good. Ware led the Cougars' surge, scoring seven points during the run to give MU a 40-25 halftime lead.
 
Ware and Green led a balanced Cougar attack in the first half, each scoring nine points, while Urich added eight and Evans chipped in seven. MU shot 43 percent from the floor and went 11-13 from the foul line (84.6%) while holding a 21-18 rebounding advantage.
 
Eastern was led by Kyle Malloy, who came off the bench to score seven first-half points. The Eagles shot just 32 percent from the field, including 3-11 (27 percent) from three-point range.
 
After an Anthony Bertolino layup to open the second half cut the Cougar lead to 13, back-to-back layups by Ware sparked an 11-2 run to extinguish any doubt and give MU a 51-29 lead with 15:32 to play.
 
The Cougars would use another 12-2 run, highlighted by back-to-back threes by Anthony Sergio and Greene, to extend their lead to 73-41 with 8:08 remaining. MU would lead by as much as 33 before the Eagles whittled the lead to 24 in the closing minutes.
 
All 13 MU players saw action during the game.
 
The Cougars shot 49 percent for the game, including 8-16 from three-point range in the victory.  The team also committed just nine turnovers for the game, with five of those coming in the final three minutes of play.
 
Malcolm Garrison led Eastern with 10 points, while freshman transfer Matt Tyson added nine in his first game as an Eagle.
 
The Cougars will return to action on Saturday, hosting FDU-Florham in another Freedom contest at 3:00 PM.