Box Score Misericordia University erased an early deficit and surged to an 80-74 victory over FDU-Florham in the opening round of the Freedom Conference Tournament, Wednesday night in the Anderson Center.
With the win, MU improved to 16-10 and punched its ticket to the Freedom Conference Championship Game on Saturday at 3 p.m. against top seeded DeSales at Billera Hall in Center Valley, PA.
Steve Ware led the Cougars with 20 points and five rebounds, while
Joe Busacca and
Matt Greene added 16 points.
Cael Evans added 14 points and eight rebounds en route to the Cougars victory.
The Devils jumped out out to a quick 11-2 lead on a Kevin Furlong three-point bucket. However, the Cougars came roaring back, eventually tying the game at 16-16 when Ware finished a layup after a crosscourt pass from Greene.
MU took its first lead of the game when
Erik Kerns hit one of two free throws to put the Cougars ahead 20-19 with 8:35 left in the opening half.
Later in the half, Trevor Sykes hit a huge three for the Devils, knotting the game at 32-32. However, the big three awoke the Cougars offense, as Greene drilled back to back long range jumpers and Ware added a layup to give the Cougars a 40-32 lead with just under two minutes left to play.
Greene hit another three with just over a minute left to play in the first half and the Cougars went into the half with a 43-35 lead.
The Devils opened the second half on 10-2 run led by three point buckets from Andrew Stress and Furlong.
Joe Busacca nailed a jumper from just outside the free-throw line, giving the Cougars an eight-point lead with 8:08 left to play. The Cougars then took advantage of a technical foul, as Greene drilled both free throws giving MU its largest lead of the game at 64-54 with 7:40 left in the game.
The Devils bounced back when Flete connected from long range, cutting the Cougars lead to just three at 70-67. Evans responded with a big layup off of his own rebound and extended the Cougars lead to five with 2:01 left to play.
Griffin Sponaugle, Greene and Kerns all hit clutch free throws down the stretch as the Cougars finished 25-32 from the free-throw line, securing the MU win.
