Box Score Despite a sluggish start and a late Monarch's rally that sent the game to overtime, the Misericordia University men's basketball team found a way to survive and advance with a 57-52 overtime victory over King's College in the Freedom Conference semifinals in the Anderson Center on Wednesday night.
 
With the win, #1-seed MU advances to its fourth Freedom Championship game and is looking to capture its second title. The Cougars will host #2-seed Delaware Valley in the Freedom Championship game, Saturday afternoon at 2:00 in the Anderson Center.
 
Joe Busacca and Steve Ware have found a way to overcome slow starts all season and Wednesday night was no exception. Busacca finished the night with a team-high 26 points, including a 10-11 mark from the free-throw line while Ware picked up another double-double, posting 17 points and 18 rebounds.
 
  MU trailed for the first 30 minutes of the game. However, Busacca and Ware went on a tear to get the Cougars back in the game. Busacca started MU's 13-0 run with a long three from the left wing while Ware followed with back-to-back layups and Busacca added two more jumpers to cap the five minute run, giving MU a 36-33 lead with just 9:11 to play.
 
The Cougars added another 8-0 run later in the second half, extending their lead to 44-35 with just over five minutes left. Busacca had six of the nine points while Griffin Sponaugle connected from beyond the arc during the 9-0 run.
 
King's closed the half on a 12-3 run to force the overtime period.
 
The two teams traded buckets for the majority of the overtime period, but Ware extended the Cougars lead to 54-51 with just 50 seconds left.
 
King's missed on the other end and Busacca hit one of his two free throws to make it a four-point game with 16 seconds left.
 
MU then committed a foul, allowing John Fazzini to knock down one of two from the line and cut the lead to three.
 
The Cougars then lost the ball on a five-second violation. However, King's couldn't knock down a shot to tie the game, Busacca grabbed the rebound and was fouled with just seconds left.
 
The senior guard knocked down both to solidify the 57-52 victory over King's.
 
The Cougars outrebounded the Monarchs 50-43 in the win.
 
MU improved to 20-6 overall while King's finishes its season at 15-11.