The Misericordia University Cougars became the first Freedom Conference team to win in St. Davids this season as they pulled away to an 80-65 win in tonight's conference semifinal. The Cougars used a balanced attack and deadly foul-shooting to earn the win.

The Eagles were in the Freedom Playoffs for the second straight year, but it was the third seeded Cougars who showed their veteran status through the game. Dom Del Prete finished with a game-high 22. One of three seniors in the Misericordia starting line-up, Del Prete made 8-11 foul shots. He was able to find position in the post for shots at big moments.

The Eagles grabbed a 5-4 lead on an Alex Nelson three-pointer, but the Cougars responded with a 7-0 run to grab an 11-5 lead with 13 and a half minutes to play. The two squads began to heat up and traded baskets until the Eagles were able to excite the capacity crowd with a 9-4 run to tie the game at 18-18. Soaries, who scored twice in the spurt, capped the run with a steal and a lay-in. Eastern's sophomore standout finished the night with 15 points and a pair of steals.

For a short time, the game had the makings of a classic as the two teams traded baskets and remained tied at 23. Misericordia then went on an 11-1 run over a five minute spell to seize control of the game. Soaries hit two straight hoops to cut the deficit to six, but the Eagles would not get closer. Misericordia's Ethan Eichhorst scored a second-chance hoop as time expired to send Misericordia to the locker room up 37-29.

Soaries and Nelson each had nine at the break to lead all scorers, but Misericordia shot 52% and made 8-10 foul shots to forge the lead. Del Prete had eight points to lead the Cougars at halftime.

The Cougars scored the first four points of the second half and executed well at both ends of the floor to build their edge to 15 at the midway point. The Eagles were forced to scramble, and they were not able to rattle the veteran Cougars who finished the night with just eight turnovers. The Eastern frustration was further compounded as the Cougars hit 13-14 from the foul line in the second half.

Nelson finished with a team-high 17 points and 7 rebounds. The game is the final appearance in an Eastern uniform for senior captain Chris Myers. He finished the night with 9 points and 6 assists in 38 minutes.

Misericordia (16-10, 9-5 Freedom) advances to Saturday's Championship at DeSales. The top-seeded Bulldogs downed King's 82-69 in the other Semifinal.