Box Score Joe Busacca had a big second half and Steve Ware came off the bench to record a double-double as the Misericordia University men's basketball team rallied for a 69-63 win over Albright, Saturday afternoon in the Anderson Center.

Busacca scored all 15 of his points in the second half and Ware had a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds.  Cael Evans added 10 points and rebounds and Matt Greene added 10 points for the Cougars.

Albright led 29-25 at halftime and led by nine, 38-29, early in the second half.

Greene drained a three-pointer from the left wing and a driving layup by Busacca got MU within 38-33 with 15:15 left in the game.

Erik Kerns made a short jumper and Busacca followed with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 42-40 with 12:04 remaining.

Back-to-back layups from Anthony Sergio and Busacca tied the score 46-46 and another drive by Busacca gave the Cougars their first lead of the second half, 48-46, with 9:04 to go.

After two more driving buckets from Busacca, Kerns made a free throw to tie it, 55-55, with 5:14 to play.

Greene added another three-pointer to put MU in front for good, 58-55, with 4:55 to go.

Two free throws by Ware and putback from Evans stretched Misericordia's lead to 60-55 with less than three minutes left.

Albright pulled within 64-61 with under a minute to go, but Busacca answered with a free throw and Greene sank four free throws over the final 30 seconds.

With Ware and fellow starter Cael Evans on the bench, Albright scored the first three buckets for a 6-0 lead in the opening two minutes.

Andrew Moran got the Cougars on the board with a pair of free throws and Evans came off the bench to make back-to-back layups to tie it, 6-6.

Ware converted a steal into a breakaway dunk to put MU ahead, 8-6.

Albright answered with a 10-2 run for a 16-10 lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half.

The Cougars battled back and Matt Tanner's three-pointer pulled MU to within 21-20 with 6:07 left.

Layups by Evans and Ware put the Cougars in front, 24-23, but Albright closed the half on a 6-1 run for a 29-25 halftime lead.

Misericordia, 3-2, will open Freedom Conference play at Wilkes, Wednesday.