DALLAS (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University men's basketball team held a 12-point first half lead, but host Misericorida University surged in the second half to earn a 76-64 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom victory.

The Cougars improved to 6-8 overall and 2-1 in MAC Freedom play while the Aggies fell to 5-8 and 1-2.

DelVal got a tough layup from Nestor Diaz and a 3-pointer from the elbow to start the game, but then fell behind 11-5 after four minutes of play.

The Aggies brought junior transfer Jordan Tucker off the bench and he sparked a 16-3 run with eight points, an assist and a rebound as DelVal regained the lead, 21-13, 9:30 into regulation. Diaz and Damian Washington each hit a trey during the spurt.

The defense held Misericordia with a field goal for a stretch of 6:25 in the first half and maintained a seven-point, 25-18 lead with 8:10 remaining in the half. Edward Jones, Jr. extended the Aggies lead to double-digits for the first time in the game with an and-1 play off a running floater, and then he hit an easy layup after a setup by Mike Cianciulli to make it 30-18.

The Cougars clawed back with a 10-2 run to make it a four-point game with three minutes left in the first half.

Terence Johnson closed the half with a pair of layups for DelVal and it went into the break with a 36-28 advantage. The Aggies shot 50-percent from the field and from beyond the arch and they held Misericordia to 8-for-28 shooting from the field.

DelVal built its lead to 12 with a 7-3 run to start the second half, but the Cougars stormed back with a 20-6 run over the next 6:44 of play to take their first lead since early in the first half, 51-47. Noah Kreitzer led the way with eight points in the half as the home team went 3-for-5 from deep.

Misericordia went on to outscore DelVal, 48-25, in the second half behind 44.8-percent shooting from the field to the Aggies 33.3-percent. The Cougars also connected on 7-of-14 treys and 10-of-12 free throws while DelVal went 1-for-4 from deep and just 2-for-4 from the line.

Tucker scored a game-high 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting in 29 minutes off the bench. He added four rebounds, two blocks, and three assists, and was the only Aggie in double figures. Washington finished with nine and six boards and Diaz led the team with seven rebounds and five assists with five points.

Four of the five Cougar starters reached double-digit scoring led by Jake Bartholomew's 15 points. Nate Kreitzer and Tony Harding each netted 14 and Noah Rivera pulled down 17 rebounds and added 12 points and five assists.

DelVal will resume league action on Saturday when it travels to DeSales University for a 3 p.m. tip-off.