DALLAS (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University men's basketball team fell behind early on the road at Misericordia University and never recovered as the Cougars ran away with an 80-71 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom victory.
Both programs are now 2-3 in MAC Freedom play this season with the Aggies dropping to 7-7 overall and Misericordia improving to 7-6.
The Cougars hit 2-of-3 three's in the first three minutes and raced out to a 10-0 lead. They eventually grew the advantage to 15-3 before DelVal went on a 9-1 run to cut the gap to four. The Aggies hit three treys in that run including two from Casey Caruso and one from Francis Robles-Montas. DelVal had four three pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game and trailed 16-12.
Misericordia responded with a 9-2 run over the next 1:47 to take a 25-14 lead. The Aggies got back to within three after Godly Marc connected from deep to make it 27-24 with five minutes left in the first half. Over the final five minutes of the stanza, the Cougars outscored DelVal 12-2 to take a 39-26 lead into the halftime break.
Misericordia went to the free-throw line 17 times in the first half and converted 15 attempts, while the Aggies were 1-for-1 on the other end. Personal fouls were 10-5 against DelVal. Each team made 10 field goals in the half and the Aggies mad five 3-pointers to the Cougars' four.
Misericordia never relinquished its lead in the game and grew its advantage to as many as 19 in the second half at 63-44 with 10:46 left in regulation. DelVal got as close as within 10 the rest of the way.
The Aggies shot 54.3-percent from the field (19-for-35), but just 3-for-12 (25%) from deep. The Cougars went 15-for-33 (45.5%) from the field and 6-for-14 (42.9%) from 3-point land.
Misericordia finished the game 20-for-25 from the free-throw line while DelVal finished 5-for-8. The Cougars held a narrow 38-36 edge on the boards, while the turnover battled favored the Aggies, 10-9.
Godly Marc led DelVal with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting and added two assists and two steals. Justin Savage recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Jordan Gombs added nine points.
DelVal will look to bounce-back at home at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night against the league's top team, DeSales.
