The Misericordia University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 88-81 decision to Lycoming, Wednesday night on Doc Mould Court.

Elijah Rosenthal led the Cougars with 16 points and Joe Baldachino added 14.  Nick Prociak had 12 points and Nate Kreitzer added 10 points and eight assists.

The Cougars led throughout much of the contest and held a 56-46 advantage midway through the second half, but the Warriors rallied and eventually took the lead with 5:07 to play.

After Lycoming extended its lead to 81-70 with 1:11 MU's last-minute charge came up short.

Rodrigo Vani scored a putback and a Lycoming turnover led to Baldachino's three-pointer from the right corner to get within 81-75 with :50 to play.  Following an offensive foul by Lycoming, Baldachino scored an easy lay-up on the inbounds play to make it 81-77, but MU never got any closer as the Warriors converted six free throws down the stretch.

The Cougars led 38-36 at halftime and gradually stretched their lead to double digits.

Kreitzer hit a deep step-back three-pointer from the left wing early in the second half for a 43-39 lead and Rosenthal's slashing bucket made it 45-39 with 18:18 to play.

Rosenthal added a lay-up on a back-door cut and Prociak's putback gave the Cougars a 54-48 lead with 12:14 to go.

Rosenthal gave MU its biggest lead of the night, 56-46, on a reverse lay-up with 11:29 left before Lycoming went on a 15-5 run over the next four minutes to pull even, 61-61.

The Cougars will visit Delaware Valley, Saturday.