DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – The Delaware Valley men's basketball team fell behind early to Misericordia and despite putting up a tough battle dropped the contest to the Cougars 69-58 on Saturday afternoon.
The loss puts DelVal at 8-11 on the season and 3-5 in MAC Freedom play while the win for the Cougars improves their record to 11-8 overall and 4-4 in conference action.
Zoelin Pair put up the first points of the game, however they would be the only points for the Aggies over the following seven minutes leaving the Cougars to build up an 11-2 lead.
Mike Herrin sunk the three to end the drought, but Misericordia swiftly responded with five unanswered to take an 11-point lead, 16-5.
Jordan Gombs and Herrin combined for a 5-0 run to cut the deficit down to single-digits, 16-10, but 100% effort from both beyond the arc and at the charity stripe for the Cougars pushed them to a 12-point lead, 24-12, with 6:07 left in the half. Herrin hustled for a solo six-point run to make the gap single-digits yet again, 24-18. Misericordia held a 12-5 edge over the Aggies pulling ahead by as many as 13 when
Miles Demby converted the three to make it a 10-point game, but the Cougars sunk the three at the buzzer to maintain their 13-point lead heading into the half, 39-26.
Misericordia used a 10-4 run through the first three minutes of the second half to create its biggest lead yet, 49-30.
Jake McGinty stepped up just beyond the arc for the long ball to start a 9-0 run for the Aggies bringing the deficit back down to 10, 49-39. DelVal held a narrow 10-9 advantage over the next four minutes thanks to a 100% shooting at the line from Pair cutting the Cougars lead to nine, 58-49, with under 10 minutes to play.
The Cougars continued to pull ahead by a margin of two, but Demby was there to answer the call from beyond the arc to make it a seven-point game, 61-54. Foul trouble for the Aggies placed the Cougars at the line for a 4-of-6 performance to regain the double-digit lead, 67-56, with 44 seconds to play.
JT Wright III put up the last points for DelVal but a final 2-of-2 from the charity stripe gave Misericordia the 11-point win, 69-58.
Pair and Herrin led the scoring for the Aggies with 15 and 13 points apiece. Pair also recorded double-digit rebounding pulling down 10 boards in the game. The senior led the steals and blocks stat lines for DelVal with four and two, respectively.
The Aggies return to action this Wednesday, Feb. 5 on the road at FDU-Florham for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
