Center Valley, PA (January 12, 2011) – The DeSales University men's basketball team lost for the third time at home this season, dropping a 63-58 decision to Freedom Conference foe Misericordia University, in a rematch of last season's Freedom Conference title game on Wednesday evening in Billera Hall.
Junior Bob Zanneo led the way with 12 points and freshman Mike Coleman was one of a few Bulldogs to play well with a season-high 11 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting night. Senior Tom Marshall pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in the loss.
Sophomore Brett Moyer and senior Brian Hunter, who came into the game averaging a combined 31.6 points, totaled just nine points before they each fouled out in the second half.
Ethan Eichhorst totaled 22 points and eight rebounds, Steve Artzerouian came off the bench to record 16 points and eight rebounds, and Jeff Slanovec tossed in four three's for 12 points to lead the Cougar scoring attack.
Both teams struggled mightily to put points on the board over the first eight minutes of the game as Misericordia clawed its way to a 7-2 lead and eventually led 10-2 on a three from Slanovec. The Bulldogs (9-5, 1-3 Freedom) started the game shooting just 1-for-10 from the field.
The Cougars (9-6, 2-2 Freedom) pushed their lead up to nine points (19-10) before a three from freshman Drew Wilcox, another trey from sophomore Brian Kerwin, and a three-point play from Zanneo tied the game at 19 with 1:55 left. Miseri, however, ended the half on a 7-2 run to cling to a five-point advantage at the break.
In the second half, a three-point play early by Moyer got DSU within four points at the 17:01 mark but consecutive three's from Slanovec sandwiched around a lay-in from junior Jamey Bercier made it an eight-point game with 16 minutes left.
The game went back-and-forth for almost the remainder of the game until DeSales frantically got back into the game late.
Trailing by eight with 1:22 remaining, Hunter scored his only two points of the game on two free throws but then fouled out on the ensuing inbounds play where Eichhorst hit 1-of-2 from the line.
A Coleman jumper cut it the deficit down to five points and Eichhorst turned the ball over in the backcourt on the next possession giving DSU life. Zanneo made a running lay-up with 58 seconds left and Sean Bieski missed a lay-up on the other end as the Bulldogs grabbed the rebound with 45 seconds left down three.
After a DeSales timeout, Zanneo had a contested look at three that hit back rim and after an offensive rebound from Coleman, he found Kerwin wide open on the left wing but his triple attempt was off the mark and Eichhorst put the exclamation point on the win with a lay-up all alone on the other end with 11 seconds left.
Neither team shot well as DSU finished the game shooting just 39.6 percent, while Misericordia made just 39.0 of its shot attempts. The difference came beyond the arc where the Cougars were 7-for-19 (36.8%), while DeSales was just 4-for-22 (18.2%).
It is the first time since the 2005-06 season that DeSales has lost three or more games at home in the same season and it's just the second win for the Cougars over the Bulldogs in the last 13 meetings, both of which have come in Billera Hall.
DeSales returns to action in Billera Hall on Saturday afternoon when they face FDU-Florham in what is a very important early season Freedom Conference game beginning at 3:00 pm.