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The Misericordia men’s basketball team is going dancing once again.
The Cougars won their second straight Freedom Conference championship after taking down third-seeded DeSales, 74-59, on Saturday in Center Valley to claim an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. It’s the team’s fourth conference title in just 10 seasons in the league.
Misericordia now leads all eight Freedom Conference members with four league titles.
Tournament MVP Tony Harding scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down six rebounds while Stone McCreary scored 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting. McCreary was 5-of-7 from behind the arc.
The Cougars were able to take down DeSales with Freedom Player of the Year Jason Kenny being held to just 10 points. The talented guard was able dish out a season-high eight assists while grabbing six boards.
Harding opened the scoring with a jumper, followed by layups by Rivera and Fields. Fields then found Kenny in the corner for an open three. The Cougars were able to jump out to an early 9-0 lead just four minutes into the game thanks to the efforts from Harding, Rivera, Fields and Kenny.
Misericordia forced 11 turnovers in the first 13 minutes of the half to maintain their lead despite cold shooting, as both teams struggled to score in the middle of the first half.
DeSales hit a jumper with three seconds left in the half and looked to have some momentum heading into the locker room, but Kenny was fouled with 0.4 seconds left and hit a free throw at the other end to give the Cougars a 24-16 halftime lead.
In the second half, Harding and Alec Rodway hit shots to give The Cougars quickly built a 12-point as Harding and Alec Rodway both made shots less than a minute into the second half. But DeSales would not go away quietly.
The Bulldogs slowly chipped away at the Cougars’ lead, cutting their deficit to three at 43-40 with 10:03 to go. But Misericordia knew exactly how to respond.
With a 45-40 lead and 7:36 to go, the Cougars hit six straight 3-pointers, beginning with McCreary’s dagger off an assist by Harding. With Kenny struggling to score, he registered an assist on each of the next five triples.
He found McCreary three times and Harding twice to give Misericordia a 63-47 lead with 3:30 to go.
The Cougars iced the game at the line, hitting 15 of 16 free throws in the second half.
Misericordia will find out its opponent in the NCAA tournament at 12:30 p.m. Monday during the Division III Men’s Basketball Selection Show, which will be streamed on NCAA.com.
