DALLAS, Pa. - Eastern Men's Basketball fell to host Misericordia on Wednesday night, 92-66. The Cougars held the Eagles to a 26-of-74 shooting performance from the field and used a 49 point second half to earn the victory.

"Misericordia played a great game tonight," said Head Coach Eric McNelley. "They could hit all of their shots and we couldn't, simple as that. They were able to get on some pretty big scoring runs, and we were unable to stop them."

Eastern (11-13, 5-8 MAC Freedom) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before Misericordia (14-10, 8-5 MAC Freedom) came back to take a 9-8 lead with just over 14 minutes left to play. Back-to-back Malcolm Garrison 3-pointers gave the Eagles a one point, 14-12, lead for a mere 25 seconds. On the ensuing Cougars possession, Griffin Sponaugle hit a 3-pointer to spark a 23-4 run and capped it off with a layup in the paint to help stretch the Misericordia lead all the way to 35-18. 

The Eagles closed out the half on a 12-8 run and pulled within nine twice on back-to-back possessions. However, every time Eastern closed the gap to single digits the Cougars responded. Shaquan Turk knocked down a jumper with 37 seconds left to make it 39-30 but Misericordia scored 30 seconds later and then forced a turnover by Turk and hit a layup as time expired to take a 43-30 lead into the locker room. 

"We managed to comeback and make it close, but you can't let a team build a lead like that," continued McNelley. "The deficit becomes too big, and you are forced to take more risks, and that leads to mistakes and missed shots."  

After cutting the lead to ten, 43-33, to start the second half on another Garrison 3-pointer Misericordia responded with another big scoring run. The Cougars went on a 22-6 spree hitting four 3-pointers, three of which were in a row to jump out to a 26 point, 65-39, lead with just under 12 minutes left to play. 

Eastern was able to trim the lead to as little as 16 at 65-49, but Sponaugle knocked down another 3-pointer to extend the lead right back to 19. The 3-pointer was part of a 25-6 run by Misericordia that saw the lead get as high as 35 points, 90-55, and effectively seal the game for the Cougars. During the scoring run, the Eagles were held without a basket for more than three minutes at one point before finally netting one at the 2:52 mark to make it 90-58.  

For the game, the Eagles went 26-of-74 from the field shooting (.351) while also going 8-of-33 from 3-point range to shoot (.242). Meanwhile, Misericordia went 33-of-67 from the field and 14-of-27 from 3-point range shooting (.519). 

Garrison led all Eastern scorers with 20 points while Victor Peña rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 points. 

Five Misericordia players tallied double-digit nights. Tyler McGarry led all Cougars with 18 points while Sponaugle finished with 17. Jason Kenny netted 16 points of his own, and D.J. Marlow scored 15. Erik Kerns rounded out the double-digit scoring with ten points.

"We have one more game left to end the season on a high note, and you can believe that we will be ready," concluded McNelley. "One last chance to go into the offseason with a positive attitude and a good taste in our mouth." 

Eastern hosts DeSales in the season finale on February 20th.