The Misericordia men's basketball team defeated Valley Forge, 90-86, in a tightly contested battle in Phoenixville, Friday night. The Cougars improve to 3-4, while the Patriots drop to 0-5.

Noah Rivera led the Cougars with 21 points and eight rebounds. Tony Harding added 15 points and Brendan Leonard pitched in a career-high 14 points off the bench.

Misericordia took 46 three-pointers, making 15 of them, against the Valley Forge zone defense.

The Cougars jumped out to an 8-2 lead early in the contest, but with the help of a 9-0 run, the Patriots took a 20-12 lead with 10:18 left in the half.

The Cougars went on an 8-2 run, reclaiming the lead on a Leonard three to go up 23-22 with 7:28 to go in the half.

Valley Forge took a 29-28 lead, but an 11-0 run by the Cougars gave MU a ten-point lead with 3:34 left before the half.

After some back-and-forth play, the Cougars took a 46-38 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, the Cougars gradually built their lead up to 18 at 70-52 on back-to-back threes by Stone McCreary with 13:19 remaining, but the Patriots fought back, going on a 15-4 run to cut their deficit to seven with 8:04 left in the game.

Misericordia extended their lead back up to 12, but Valley Forge kept clawing back, getting it to within one possession with under a minute to go, but five free throws by Jason Kenny sealed the win for the Cougars.

Misericordia will be back in action, Monday when they host Rutgers-Newark at 7:00.