The game was going to be about tempo. The Cougars (10-3 4-0) like the pace in the 60's with long possessions. Eastern Men's Basketball was unable to push the pace of the game, and the visiting Cougars made their late possessions count as they held off a late charge to emerge with a 65-61 PAC win.
From the outset, the game was a possession-by-possession affair. Joe Manzo gave the Eagles a 14-11 lead midway through the first half. At that point the Cougars ground out a 17-4 run with steady execution, solid ball handling, and a stifling zone that limited the Eagles' ability to find inside shots and challenged all shots from the perimeter. The Eagles were able to chop into the 12 point lead and get within nine at the break.
The tale of the first half was the offensive efficiency of the Cougars as they hit 13 of 19 shots including 4 of 7 from behind the arc. Dom Del Prete led the Cougars at the break with 11 points. Jason Reels had eight at the break for the Eagles. Eastern hit just 9-26 shots and were kept in the game in part because of nine offensive rebounds and forcing ten turnovers.
The Cougars, however, were making the right kind of turnovers. Five second counts, balls out of bounds and the occasional travel gave away possession but kept the Eastern team from scoring points in transition. The Eagles shot eleven three pointers and were unable to get easy inside looks against Misericordia's half-court defense.
An inspired Eastern team made a tremendous run at the defensive end to start the second half as they surrendered just ten points in the first ten minutes of the second half. For all the defensive intensity, the Eagles were able to muster just ten points of their own in the same stretch of time. Reels scored eight of Eastern's ten points in that stretch that say the Misericordia lead cut to four at 35-31. Matt Hornak hit a 24 footer as the shot clock expired to boost the Cougar advantage back to seven.
Throughout the close of the game, the Eagles were unable to break through to get within a possession of the lead, and the Cougars made enough of their free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win. Reels finished with 18 for the Eagles. David Volpe joined him in double figures with 13. Del Prete finished with a game-high 19.
The Eastern bench outscored the Misericordia bench 20-12, but Misericordia's Andy Smith hit all three of his shots including two second-half three-pointers to hold the Eastern charge at bay.
Eastern Head Coach Matt Nadelhoffer said of the loss, "This is a very frustrating loss for us. We knew what needed to happen here, and they were able to win the battle of tempo. The Misericordia kids played with intensity and toughness. We matched that intensity in the second half, but were unable to execute well-enough to overcome our first half."
The Eagles have just one day to recover as they travel to Gwynedd-Mercy for an important PAC game Thursday night.
