Dallas, PA (December 5, 2015) – An 18-2 run late in the second-half wasn't enough to overcome a tough shooting first-half as the DeSales University men's basketball team fell at Misericoridia University, 79-64, in a MAC Freedom contest on Saturday afternoon in the Anderson Center.
DSU (4-3, 1-1 MAC Freedom) shot just 34.4 percent for the game and 30.8 percent in the opening half finishing the game just 1-for-16 from three-point land as compared to the Cougars (4-5, 1-1 MAC Freedom) who hit an even 50.0 percent from the field for the game and canned an impressive 11 three-pointers on 23 attempts to earn the win.
The Bulldogs scored the first four points of the game but went cold from there as the Cougars scored 10 straight points to take a 10-4 lead.
It was an 18-13 game at the 10-minute mark when MU out-scored DeSales, 18-9 over the final 10 minutes to take a 36-22 lead into the locker room.
The second-half lead grew to as many as 23 points on three different occasions and for the last time at 67-44 with 6:17 remaining when the Bulldogs started a furious rally.
The Bulldogs went on an 18-2 run over the next four minutes cutting the deficit down to just seven points (69-62) with 2:18 to go. Junior
Kuity Slanger totaled 10 points and junior
Brian Laird hit a three-pointer to cut the margin down to seven.
The Cougars re-grouped scoring the next 10 points to close out the win.
Slanger was terrific in the loss finishing just three assists shy of a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. Junior
Ryan Callahan had 12 points and sophomore
Steven Ciottib played well of the bench with a career-high eight points.
DSU did an excellent job of taking care of the ball committing just nine turnovers and took advantage of 21 Misericordia turnovers to score 22 points. MU held a 49-33 advantage on the glass in the game.
Slanger earns
A.B.E. Doors and Windows Player of the game for the Bulldogs.
DeSales will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to PSU-Berks for a non-conference game beginning at 7:30 pm.
