Box Score DALLAS, Pa. – The FDU-Florham Devils men's basketball team fell to Misericordia University 80-74 in the opening round of the Freedom Conference Tournament on Wednesday night at the Anderson Center.

With the loss, the Devils' (13-13, 8-7 Freedom) NCAA tournament aspirations are dashed but the team's season may not be over as they will now await selections for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) playoffs, which will be announced on Monday.

The Devils looked sharp early jumping to an 11-2 lead less than five minutes into action. Over the next five minutes, the Cougars battled back thanks to baskets by Steve Ware and Joe Busacca and evened the score at 16-16. The game remained tight throughout most of the opening stanza but Misericordia senior guard Matt Greene drilled three 3-pointers over the last two minutes of the half, which provided the Cougars a 43-35 advantage at the break. John Flete (Flemington, N.J./North Hampton CC) shot the ball well for the Devils and tallied 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the opening stanza. Flete finished with a game-high 23 points in the loss.

Much like the first half, FDU-Florham opened the second period with a scoring run. The Devils started the second half with a burst of energy, as Andrew Stress (Wrightstown, Pa./Council Rock North) and Kevin Furlong (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) both drilled 3-pointers and evened the score at 45-45. However, Misericordia settled in and rebuilt their lead to seven points. The Cougars did an excellent job of getting to the free throw line and knocked down 17 of their 20 attempts in the second half.

Back-to-back baskets by Trevor Sykes (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys) and Flete cut the Cougars' lead down to three at 70-67 with 3:31 remaining. After a layup by Cougars forward Cael Evans, Flete answered again with a jumper to bring the Devils back within three points at 72-69. With 1:27 to play, Greene delivered again from downtown, which put the Cougars ontop 75-69. After a layup by Furlong, Greene knocked down a pair of free throws.  Furlong's 3-point attempt with 17 ticks left was off the mark and Misericordia sealed the win at the line to advance to the championship game.

FDU-Florham shot 50 percent from the floor (30-for-60) in the contest but could not overcome the large free throw disparity as the Cougars shot 32 free throws compared to just eight attempts for the Devils. Four Cougars notched double-digit scoring efforts led by Ware's 20 points and five rebounds. Busacca and Greene added 16 points in the win.

Devils senior forward Will Green (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) tallied his 11^th double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 boards, while Sykes finished with 13 points and six assists on the night.