The Cougar (2-2 overall) win is the first in 12 career meetings in Billera Hall as DeSales (2-2 overall) entered the evening with an 11-0 record over CM in Center Valley. The game was relatively even on the stat sheet with the exception of the shooting percentages. In addition to the shooting from the field, Misericordia converted 64.7 percent (11-of-17) of its three-point attempts compared to just 22.7 percent (5-for-22) for the Bulldogs.
The game was tied at 24 at the 8:22 mark of the first half before Misericordia finished the half on a 27-7 run to take a 51-31 lead. During the spurt, CM shot 10-for-11 (90.9 percent), while DeSales was just 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) from the field. Ryan Roa led the Cougar charge with 11 points including three treys.
The Bulldogs chipped away at the lead in the second half but were never able to mount a serious rally at the deficit. DSU’s best chance came at the six minute mark down 10 points and in possession of the ball but a Cougar steal was converted into a tip-in on the other end by Matt Hornak and after a defensive stop, Tony Rezykowski nailed a three-pointer to push the lead back to 15 points, 76-61, with 4:42 to go.
DeSales got within six on two free throws from sophomore Jeff Raimo with 1:31 to go, but were forced to foul and Misericordia went 8-for-11 from the charity stripe down the stretch to secure the victory.
Junior Phil Stricker had his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds and also added three blocks in the loss. Raimo played well off the bench with a career-high 16 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Matt Zwetolitz had 11 points off the bench and junior Jamie McCloskey finished with 10 points, eight in the first half.
Roa led CM with a game-high 20 points and nine assists. Hornak had 15 points, Marcus Little came off the bench to score 11 points and Vinny Baumunk finished with 10 tallies in the road win.
COLLEGE MISERICORDIA 85, DESALES UNIVERSITY 80 COLLEGE MISERICORDIA (2-2 overall) Ryan Roa 5-10 6-8 20; Matt Hornak 7-11 0-0 15; Marcus Little 3-4 4-6 12; Vinny Baumunk 5-7 0-0 11; Tony Rezykowski 4-6 0-0 9; Josh McCabe 2-6 1-1 6; Andy Smith 2-2 0-0 5; Dominick Del Prete 2-8 1-2 5; Brian Siemion 1-2 0-0 2; Marqus Hunter 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-58 12-17 85. DESALES UNIVERSITY (2-2 overall) Phil Stricker 6-14 6-8 18; Jeff Raimo 4-7 7-9 16; Matt Zwetolitz 4-7 2-2 11; Jamie McCloskey 3-6 4-4 10; Steve Kriczky 3-7 2-2 8; Darnell Braswell 2-8 0-0 6; Sedale Walton 2-6 0-0 4; Eddie Ohlson 1-5 2-2 4; Zach Hoover 1-3 0-0 3; Rob Schubach 0-1 0-0 0; Ed Lapinski 0-2 0-0 0; Jim Malatesta 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-67 23-27 80. College Misericordia.......... 51 34 - 85 DeSales University............ 31 49 - 80 3-point goals-Misericordia 11-17 (Ryan Roa 4-6; Marcus Little 2-2; Josh McCabe 1-3; Tony Rezykowski 1-1; Vinny Baumunk 1-2; Matt Hornak 1-2; Andy Smith 1-1), DeSales 5-22 (Darnell Braswell 2-4; Zach Hoover 1-3; Jeff Raimo 1-2; Matt Zwetolitz 1-3; Eddie Ohlson 0-2; Rob Schubach 0-1; Sedale Walton 0-2; Steve Kriczky 0-3; Jamie McCloskey 0-2). Rebounds-Misericordia 35 (Dominick Del Prete 8), DeSales 41 (Phil Stricker 11). Assists-Misericordia 20 (Ryan Roa 9), DeSales 17 (Eddie Ohlson 6).