The Misericordia University men's basketball team is looking to defend their MAC Freedom title and got off to a great start, Wednesday night, defeating Manhattanville on the road, 81-56, in the MAC Freedom Conference opener.

Jason Kenny led the Cougars with 24 points, followed by Tony Harding with 21 and Tre Fields with 18.  Fields and Noah Rivera each grabbed six boards while Fields also added four assists.

Misericordia shot 38.7 from downtown as a team, making 12 three pointers, and had 26 points off 22 Manhattanville turnovers.

The Cougars jumped out to an early 15-8 lead with 13:49 remaining in the first half, forcing seven turnovers and converting them into eight points.

Misericordia gradually built up their lead in the first half before opening up their largest lead of the first 20 minutes, ending the half on a 6-0 run, culminating in a Kenny three pointer just before the buzzer to give the Cougars a 41-27 advantage heading into the locker room.

At the half, Kenny led all scorers with 17 points on 7-10 shooting, including a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc.

In the second half, the Cougars continued their hot shooting, building their lead up to 51-32 on a 10-3 run, which included two threes by Harding, with 14:08 remaining in the game.

The Cougars used a 9-0 run and a 10-0 run in the second half to pull away from the Valiants and secure the victory.

Misericordia is back in action, Saturday at home, when they play FDU-Florham at 3:00.