Box Score The Misericordia University men's basketball team dropped an 87-82 decision to Wilkes in a battle for first place in the MAC Freedom, Wednesday night in the Anderson Center.

Jason Kenny led the Cougars with 23 points and Stone McCreary added 21 points and a team-high nine rebounds.  Tre Fields had 14 points and Tony Harding added 12 points.

Wilkes took over sole possession of first place at 6-1 while MU fell into a three-way tie for second place at 5-2.

The Colonels shot 83.3% (10-12) from the foul line in OT while MU missed all six of its free throws in the extra session.

Tied 73-73 at the end of regulation, Wilkes scored the first eight points of overtime before Kenny hit a deep three-pointer from the right wing with 1:27 to play.

Down 85-76, Kenny drilled another three from the left wing off an in-bounds pass to cut the deficit to 85-79 with less than a minute to play.

After a defensive stop, McCreary drove and kicked the ball out to Brendan Leonard who buried a three-pointer from in front of the MU bench to get within 85-82 with :13 to go.

Wilkes sank two free throws in closing seconds to clinch the win.

The Cougars found themselves in an early 8-2 hole, but used an 8-0 run to take their first lead.

Fields hit a pair of free throws and Harding drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Cougars in front, 12-11.

McCreary followed with a catch-and-shoot three-pointer from the left wing to put MU up, 15-11.

The Cougars used a 9-3 spurt to take their biggest lead of the first half, 26-18.

Bryce Mondorff buried a three-pointer from the left wing and McCreary followed with a runner in the lane with 8:52 to play.

After a Wilkes three-pointer, Alec Rodway drove and kicked to Fields for a three-pointer in the right corner.  Fields added a free throw a minute later for a 26-18 lead with 7:24 left in the first half.

Wilkes used a 19-3 run over the final 7:09 of the half to take a 37-29 halftime lead.

Misericordia came out hot in the second half and pulled within 42-40 on a give-and-go from Harding to Fields just over minutes into the second half.

Wilkes went back up by five, McCreary's baseline drive cut the margin to 52-51 with 9:23 left.

After a Wilkes bucket, Patrick Douthit fed McCreary for a reverse layup underneath to keep it at 54-53 with 8:19 to go.

Kenny's steal led to a fast break layup by Douthit and MU's first lead of the second half, 56-55, with 7:44 to play.

The teams traded baskets and the lead over the final seven minutes with both teams having a chance to win in the closing seconds of regulation.

Misericordia will visit FDU-Florham, Saturday.