The Misericordia University men's basketball team fell to New Jersey City, 87-72, in the Crowne Plaza Holiday Tournament championship game, Friday afternoon in Reading.
Jason Kenny had 18 points and
Tre Fields added 13 as both players were named to the All-Tournament team.Â
Bailey Brugler scored a career-high 10 points in 10 minutes off the bench for the Cougars.
After a high-scoring first half, the Cougars trailed 45-40, but NJCU opened the second half on a 10-0 run and maintained a double digit lead the rest of the way.
Fields converted a steal by Kenny into a fast break dunk and Kenny followed with two free throws to give MU a 13-12 lead with 13:49 left in the first half.
Trailing 26-18, the Cougars went on a 14-6 run, with nine of the points coming on three-pointers by fields, to pull even, 32-32, with 4:30 left in the half.
NJCU won the first-ever meeting between the schools to improve to 11-1 while Misericordia fell to 9-2. The Cougars will host Manhattanville in their MAC Freedom opener, Wednesday at 8:00.
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