The Misericordia University men's basketball team dropped a close one to Eastern, 63-61, despite a furious late rally Wednesday night at the Anderson Center.
 
Noah Rivera led the team with 22 points and eight rebounds while Nate Kreitzer added 10 points, five assists and five steals.
 
Darius Jackson totaled eight points and four rebounds and Tony Harding tallied seven points and five rebounds.
 
Misericordia jumped out to an early lead in the first half courtesy of a Kreitzer three from way beyond the arc to put them up 12-5.
 
Midway through the first half, the Cougars surrendered the lead and the Eagles took a 28-24 advantage to the locker room.
 
Rivera battled down low and hit a nice hook shot that found the basket five minutes into the second half.
 
Harding drove hard in the lane and threw up a nice shot to cut the deficit to eight, 45-37, with 12:00 to play.
 
Down 60-44 with just five minutes left, MU went on a 10-0 run to cut the margin to 60-54.
 
Kreitzer kicked things off with a huge steal that led to an easy basket and followed it up with another steal 15 seconds later to find Pat Douthit for a three-pointer on the right wing.
 
Diby Keita came up big with a minute and half to go flying to the basket and sinking a layup to get within 62-58.
 
Misericordia capitalized on six missed free throws by the Eagles in the closing minutes of the game and Harding hit a deep three-pointer with 30 seconds left.
 
An Eastern turnover gave the Cougars a chance, but shots in the closing seconds were off the mark.
 
MU will travel to DeSales, Saturday at 3 p.m. for another MAC Freedom matchup.​