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MARIETTA, Ohio — Friday night brought one of the rarest sights of Misericordia’s season — Joe Busacca coming off the court with time still left on the clock.
With 1:28 remaining in an NCAA tournament loss to Wooster, the moment had come. An emotional Busacca came to the bench one final time, got a hug from coach Trevor Woodruff and sat down.
And with that, a historic four-year stretch for the program ended. Busacca, Steve Ware and a successful senior class had been a part of two Freedom Conference titles as the Cougars completed their transition into a new league. With it came the team’s first two trips to the NCAA tournament.
Fittingly, it was Busacca and Ware who led the Cougars once again in their last game. Busacca had 17 points and Ware had 12 to finish as the squad’s top two scorers.
“They’ve been huge for us,” Woodruff said. “We’ve only been to the NCAA tournament twice, and they’ve been there both times. No secret that they’ve carried us all year. It’s gonna be hard to see them go.
“They’re both going to be missed tremendously statistically — but in so many other ways, too.”
Busacca had been the emotional center of the 2014-15 team, and for good reason. The league’s player of the year almost never left the floor.
If it hadn’t been for a senior day curtain call late in a blowout of Manhattanville, the Cougars guard would have played every minute for Misericordia from Jan. 24 until Friday.
As it was, he played all 40 — and twice hit 45 during that stretch in a pair of overtime wins — in 10 of the Cougars’ 11 games before reaching NCAAs.
Entering the tournament, only four Division III players in the country had played more total minutes than Busacca, who was seventh nationally in minutes per game at 37.3.
Minute No. 1,052 of the season was his last. And it was a tough one.
“Just really emotional,” Busacca said. “I’ve given everything I have all year for four years. Just wanted to give the best that I can do.”
Ware checked out for the final time with 6:24 left, having taken a hard spill earlier in the game that left him wincing the rest of the way.
The dynamic forward had often been the Cougars’ best all-around player on the floor, effective in the post and with his jumper while also serving as the team’s top rebounder.
It was a rare home game that didn’t see the Anderson Center brought to its feet by either an emphatic dunk or swat of an opponent’s shot by Ware.
“Steve Ware, that’s a good player,” said Wooster coach Steve Moore, who has about seen it all in 28 seasons and three Final Four appearances while leading the Fighting Scots.
Just as important, perhaps, as their play on the court, the Cougars seniors helped set a tone for the future. After all, this year’s group was heavily influenced by older teammates in the past.
Misericordia’s last conference player of the year — Hazleton Area grad Ethan Eichhorst — helped lead the team to the tournament in 2012. Busacca praised former guard Matt Greene, who graduated last year and now serves as an assistant on Woodruff’s staff, as an older player who set the biggest example for him.
With that in mind, Woodruff said he thought the team’s mentality while preparing for the top stage was better than it was three years earlier.
“I thought coming into the year, the kids had the right frame of mind,” Woodruff said. “They expected to win our conference, and of course, that gets you into the tournament.
“What I liked about our preparation this time as opposed to the first time — I didn’t think these guys seemed just happy to be here.”
Wooster still proved to be too much for the Cougars as the Scots dominated the second half of an 84-59 win.
Woodruff is hopeful that the experience will pay off for his team next season and beyond. But he admits that it won’t be easy.
“We don’t have the depth in our program to just say, ‘The next Joe Busacca, step up,’” Woodruff said. “We’re going to have to develop one or go find him in recruiting. Because we don’t have him right now.”
That will come later.
For now, the weekend served as an opportunity to recognize the players who helped Misericordia reach new heights.
“I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” Busacca said. “This was the best year I’ve ever had in my life.”