Box Score The Misericordia University men's basketball team clinched a first round home game in the Freedom Championships with a 67-41 win, Saturday afternoon at Manhattanville.

The Cougars held the Valiants to 15 second-half points to finish the regular season at 15-10 overall and in second place in the Freedom Conference at 9-5.

MU will host FDU-Florham, Wednesday at 7:00.  Top-seeded DeSales will host Manhattanville in the other semifinal with the winners to meet for the title, Saturday.

Steve Ware led the Cougars with 14 points while Matt Greene added 12 and Erik Kerns had 11 points and team-high eight rebounds.

Misericordia led 34-26 at halftime and took broke the game open with an 8-2 run to open the second half.

Ware hit a jumper to start the second half and Greene nailed a pair of three-pointers to put MU up, 44-28 just four minutes into the period.

Griffin Sponaugle hit a jumper and then converted a steal into a dunk by Ware at the other end for a 50-32 lead with 12:17 remaining.

Sponaugle's three-pointer gave the Cougars a 57-36 lead with 7:54 to play.

After a Manhattanville bucket, Sponaugle answered with a jumper and the Cougars led by 20 points the rest of the way.