Steve Ware had his best game of the season, posting yet another double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Misericordia University men's basketball team to a 66-59 victory over Freedom Conference rival, Wilkes University, on Wednesday night in the Anderson Center.

Joe Busacca had a strong second half, finishing with 15 points and five rebounds while James Hawk added 12 points and five boards. Erik Kerns just missed a double-double, posting nine points and nine rebounds in the win.

The Cougars were terrific from the free-throw line, going 22-30 while Wilkes was just 3-8 from the line. MU also dominated the post, outscoring the Colonels 32-12 in the paint.

MU and Wilkes battled in the first half, but neither team went on an extended run. Kerns gave MU its largest lead of the half at 24-19 with a layup with just over three minutes left in the first. Kerns' layup capped a 6-0 run, sparked by a Ware layup at the 4:32 mark of the half.

Mason Gross hit a three-pointer and Steve Stravinski added two free throws to bring the Colonels within one point at 28-27 after the first 20 minutes.

The teams traded buckets for the first six minutes of the second half, until the Cougars took the lead for good. Ware and Kerns knocked down their free throws and Jamie Egan nailed a big shot from beyond the perimeter to make it a 46-42 lead with 10:48 to play.

Ware and Busacca took over for the next seven minutes, adding numerous buckets and cashing in from the line to give the Cougars their largest lead of the game at 55-48 with just under four minutes to play. Busacca's reverse layup capped an 8-3 run and prompted a Wilkes timeout.

Busacca and Ware combined to go 9-10 from the free-throw stripe in the final minutes to help MU close out the 66-59 victory.

Tyler Jackson led the Colonels with 18 points while Cameron Hinkel added 12 points and eight boards in the loss.

With the victory, the Cougars improve to 10-4 and 2-1 in the conference while Wilkes falls to 7-7 and 2-1 in the conference.

MU returns to action, Saturday afternoon at 3:00 at Manhattanville.