Dallas, PA (February 10) – Both teams were neck and neck in the first half and were at a 49-49 stale mate in the second half, but Misericordia (13-10, 7-5 MAC Freedom) was able to pull away and defeated FDU-Florham (4-19, 1-11 MAC Freedom) men's basketball 89-68 on Saturday afternoon.
FDU-Florham was once again led by Brian Nichols (Roxbury, NJ), who scored a team-high 18 points while
Carson Woods (Phoenix, AZ) followed by scoring twelve.
Andrew Piombino Jr. (Rockaway, NJ) notched a team-high eight rebounds leading FDU defensively for the day. Misericordia saw three players reach double-digit points but were paced by a game-high 28 points from Kevin Lazdowsky.
Misericordia notched the first points of the game after a good layup ten seconds into the matchup. Nichols quickly answered back by sinking a three-pointer that sent the devils on a 11-5 run to take the lead that ended at the 14:14 minute mark. This run is credited to baskets from Woods, Nichols and
Joseph Carney (Garwood, NJ). The Cougars quickly came back after a good jumper that sent them on to score 12 unanswered points to make the score 18-11. The Devils were able to tie the game with an 8-2 run with points from
Jaqwan Washington (Bryan, TX), Woods, and Nichols. Washington was able to capitalize on a foul, with two good free throws, shortly after and give the Devils the 22-20 advantage with eight minutes left in the first half. However, Misericordia was once again able to take the lead back after going on an 9-2 run that ended at the 5:04 mark to make the score 29-24. For the remainder of the half both teams continued to exchanged baskets and the Devils saw more points from Washington, Nichols, Moore, and
Andre Macaranas (Wayne, NJ)
. However, the Devils still saw themselves going into halftime down 44-40.
The Devils started the second half off on fire, going on a 9-5 run to tie the game 49-49 at the 16:43 mark. This did not stop the Cougars though as they went on to score another 12 unanswered points to get a 61-49 advantage. The rest of the second half consisted of more runs from both teams. The Devils saw more baskets from James Zingaro (Stratford, NJ), Micah Moore (West Orange), Mike Morrissey (Pearl River, NY), Piombino, Carney, and Nichols. Unfortunately, Fairleigh Dickinson could not get any closer than the nine-point deficit they had early in the second half as Misericordia went on to beat the Devils for the 73-59 MAC Freedom victory.
FDU shot 41.7 percent (25-for-60) from the floor, 23.8 percent (5-for-21) from three-point range, and 68.4 (13-for-19) from the free throw line. The Devils scored 32 points in the paint and received 17 of their points off the bench.
Misericordia shot 46 percent (29-for-63) from the floor, 38.2 percent (13-for-34) from behind the arc, and 69.2 percent (18-for-26) from the free throw line. The Cougars scored 26 of their 89 points in the paint and received 23 points off the bench.
FDU-Florham stays on the road for their next contest as they will travel to MAC Freedom opponent Arcadia on Tuesday, February 13. The matchup is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 pm.
