Dallas, PA (February 13, 2018) - The DeSales University men's basketball team went ice cold in the second half falling at Misericordia University, 59-58, in MAC Freedom action on Tuesday evening.

The loss drops the Bulldogs (18-6, 9-4 MAC Freedom) into a three-way tie for second place with Misericordia (14-10, 9-4 MAC Freedom) and Eastern University heading into the final game of the regular season on Saturday.  Several scenarios exist but a Bulldogs win on Saturday at Delaware Valley gives them a realistic shot at earning the #2 seed and an opening round home playoff game.  Wilkes University, with its win on Tuesday, has clinched the top seed.

The Bulldogs played a terrific first-half on Tuesday shooting 56 percent from the field to take a 39-35 lead into the halftime locker room.  Down 19-14 early, DSU used a 9-0 run to take a 23-19 lead on a three from freshman Mike Bealer (Harleysville, PA) and held that margin thru the rest of the half.

In the second-half DSU continued to lead at the start and after a driving layup from sophomore Ben Pratt (Allentown, PA) at the 11:58 mark, the Bulldogs led by five (49-44).

DeSales went ice cold from there going scoreless for five minutes before a free throw at 7:03 from sophomore Kweku Dawson-Amoah (Stewartsville, NJ) broke the string.  Despite the shooting struggles, the Bulldogs defense kept them in the game as DSU trailed by just three at the 2:58 mark when senior James Smith (Hillsborough, NJ) hit a baseline jumper and a reverse driving lay-up over two of the next three possessions to give DeSales a 58-57 lead with one minute left.

After a timeout, MU's Tony Harding was fouled and hit both free throws giving the Cougars a one-point advantage with 46 seconds left.

Smith missed a jumper on the other end and DSU fouled Tre Fields on the rebound with 21 seconds left.  He missed both freebies and DeSales called timeout with 15 seconds left.

Out of the timeout, the Bulldogs worked the ball around before it was tipped out of bounds with 2.5 remaining.  After a Cougar timeout, DSU tried a pass into the post that was knocked away as MU dribbled out the clock for a one-point win.

Dawson-Amoah led DeSales recording his fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.  Sophomore Tracy Simsick (Harleysville, PA) added 11 tallies, all in the first-half, and Smith came off the bench to score 10 points.

Jason Kenny led all scorers with 19 points, while Harding added 16 points and eight boards and Noah Rivera finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.

DSU hit just 28 percent from the field in the second-half to finish the game shooting 42 percent.  The Bulldogs defense did a terrific job forcing the Cougars into just 30 percent shooting.  DeSales also out-rebounded MU, 38-35, for the game.

Game time on Saturday at Delaware Valley is set for 3:00 pm.