DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Misericordia University senior Joe Busacca drained a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left in regulation for the dramatic 70-69, Freedom Conference victory over host Delaware Valley College.
In what was a battle for first place atop the Freedom standing, it was Misericordia which prevailed as the Cougars improved to 6-1 in the conference and 14-4 overall. The Aggies now sit at 5-2 (tied for second with DeSales University) in league play with a 10-8 overall as they head into the second half of the Freedom Conference schedule.
Delaware Valley had possession in a 67-67 game when senior Francis Arnold drove the lane and was fouled by the Cougars' Steve Ware with 58 seconds left. Arnold hit both free throws to give the Aggies the two-point advantage. Misericordia drove down on its next possession and missed two consecutive shots, the second of which was pulled down by Delaware Valley's Chris Moran and he was fouled with 14 seconds remaining.
The Cougars had to foul three more times to put the Aggies in the bonus. Their third foul sent Delaware Valley's best free-throw shooter, Nick Sullivan (87.9 pecent), to the line for the 1-in-1 opportunity with 10.2 seconds left. The senior missed the first shot and Erik Kerns grabbed the board for the visiting team.
As Misericordia came down the court, Busacca got the ball and dribbled to the top of the key where he threw up a tough, contested shot that found nothing but net. The buzzer went off, but the officials correctly put 1.3 seconds back on the clock. The Aggies got off a desperation heave from halfcourt, but it was not close and the Cougars walked away with the 70-69 road win.
Delaware Valley opened the contest with a block by Manny Ochenje followed by a steal from Francis Arnold after an offensive rebound by the Cougars. On the Aggies' first possession, Ochenje found Moran for an alley-oop dunk that got the large home crowd on its feet.
Misericordia erased that momentum and went on to open up an early 9-4 lead. Delaware Valley came back with seven straight but a Griffin Sponaugle trey with 14:34 left on the first half clock regained the lead for the Cougars.
From there, the Aggies put together a 22-9 run over the next 10 minutes, 30 seconds, capped by a layup from Arnold, for the largest lead of the game at 33-21. Moran had eight points in that stretch as part of his 16-point, first half performance. The Cougars made a push at the end of the half, scoring 10 of the final 14 points to cut their deficit to six, 37-31, at the break.
After a Moran three put Delaware Valley up 45-34 early in the second half, Misericordia went on a 10-0 run behind four points apiece from Busacca and Steve Ware to climb to within one with 14:21 to play. The Aggies upped their lead to as many as seven points on seven different occasions the rest of the game, the last coming on an Arnold pull-up jumper to make it 65-58 with 4:34 remaining. The Cougars went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 67-67 and set-up the memorable finish.
Busacca finished with three treys and 23 points. Ware added 20 points, including 15 in the second half. Sponaugle had 10 points while Kerns added eight points and nine boards.
Moran was outstanding in defeat as he hit 12 of 18 shots from the field and finished with 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Arnold had 17 points and six assists while Sullivan added 12 points.