The Misericordia University men's basketball team moved a step closer to clinching a postseason berth with a thrilling 70-69 win over DeSales, Tuesday night on Doc Mould Court.
 
Kevin Lazdowsky led MU with 17 points and Matt Prociak had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.  Arvel Chandler added 13 points and R.J. Weise had seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.
 
Lazdowsky made two free throws to give the Cougars a 70-66 lead with 1:08 to play and survived a last-second game-winning attempt by the Bulldogs.
 
DeSales made three free throws to get within 70-69 with :16 to play.
 
MU missed the front end of a one-and-one with :05 to go and the Bulldogs went the length of the floor, but their buzzer-beater was off the mark.
 
The back-and-forth affair featured 11 lead changes and 10 ties.
 
Prociak's putback broke a 50-50 tie and gave Misericordia the lead for good with 11:09 remaining.
 
Darryl Wright followed with a layup and back-to-back three-pointers from Lazdowsky and R.J. Weise extended MU's lead to 62-51 with 7:2w to go.
 
The Bulldogs chipped away and cut the deficit to 68-66 with 1:14 to play before Lazdowsky answered with two free throws.
 
Derek Smith hit a three-pointer and Wright sank two free throws followed by a layup by Eli Stoute gave the Cougars the biggest lead of the first half, 23-15, with 7:47 to play.
 
DeSales responded with eight straight points to pull even, 23-23.
 
The teams traded buckets over the final 6:00 and a late three-pointer gave the Bulldogs a 38-36 lead at intermission.