DALLAS, Pa. – Immaculata placed four players in double figures, but Misericordia held the visitors scoreless over the final three minutes of the game en route to a 73-65 come-from-behind win over Immaculata on Monday evening.
Immaculata slides to 15-9 overall and 10-5 in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference while Misericordia improves to 16-8, 10-5 PAC.
Sophomore Jayson Hyman and senior Reggie Strickland each tallied 12 points apiece. Hyman grabbed seven rebounds. Senior Rob Jones finished with 11 points and seven rebounds while junior Kyle Finklea chipped in 10 points.
Misericordia scored the opening basket of the game, but it would be the only time during the first half that the Cougars held the edge. Misericordia trailed by one at the 15:52 mark when Immaculata sprinted out on a 9-0 run over 3:18 to take the 14-4 lead. Finklea contributed five points during the Mighty Macs' run.
Two Evan Donegan 3-pointers quickly cut the Immaculata advantage to six (16-10) with 9:53 remaining in the opening stanza. Jones got the hot hand as he tallied seven unanswered points for the Mighty Macs, giving them a 23-10 lead.
Immaculata maintained its double-digit advantage for the remainder of the half, leading by its largest margin, 34-20, 3:42 before intermission as Jones again hit a jumper.
The Mighty Macs led, 40-30, at the break as Jones tallied 11 points and Finklea added eight points. As a team, Immaculata shot 58 percent (15-for-26) during the first half compared to Misericordia's 40 percent (6-for-15).
The Cougars came out of the locker room ready for the second half as they scored the first six points of the stanza, and cut the Mighty Macs advantage to 40-36 just 1:26 into the half.
An 8-2 Immaculata spurt powered by five points from Hyman put the Mighty Macs back ahead by double figures, 48-38, with 16:06 to play in the contest. The ensuing 10 minutes was a swing game as Immaculata would distance itself by 10 and then Misericordia would knock the lead down to five.
Immaculata held a six-point advantage, 63-57, with 6:06 remaining in the tilt when Vinny Baumunk sunk a trey for Misericordia at the 5:35 mark, narrowing the lead to 63-60. Baumunk again knocked down a three for the Cougars, tying the game at 63-all with 3:56 on the game clock.
Finklea connected on two free throws to put the Mighty Macs back on top, 65-63, with 3:31 remaining. However, a Dom Del Prete free throw coupled with a Baumunk three, gave the Cougars the 67-65 lead. It was Misericordia's first lead since the opening minutes of the game.
The Cougars went on to ice the game going 6 of 6 from the foul line during the closing minute for the victory.
Baumunk finished with a game-high 17 points, while Marcus Little and Del Prete added 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Immaculata plays its final regular-season contest on Thursday, Feb. 21, when the Mighty Macs host Eastern at 8 p.m. at Alumnae Hall.
