READING, Pa. --
Evan Ward scored a team-high 13 points, but Steve Ware finished with 25 points and Misericordia shot 65.2 percent from the floor in the second half to rally to defeat Albright 71-61 in a non-conference game in the Bollman Center on Tuesday.
Ware, who scored 20 points in the second half, was 8-of-17 from the floor and also added seven rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot and a steal.
Misericordia, which improved to 5-1 on the season, made 15-of-23 shots in the second half after shooting just 38.5 percent in the first half.
Albright, which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end, shot 44.4 percent from the floor in the first half and took a 32-25 lead into the intermission.
The Lions also received 10 points each from
Josh Marquez and
Gilberto Benz, while
Omari Ringgold scored eight points. Ward and
Thomas Vazzana each had six rebounds to lead Albright.
Misericordia opened the second half on a 12-4 run sparked by six points from James Hawk to take a 37-36 lead with 15:14 to play in the game.
Albright answered with a 12-2 run, which featured a pair of three-pointers by Marquez, to help the Lions regain the lead at 48-39 with 12:43 left in the second half.
Four consecutive free throws by Ware cut the Albright lead to 50-46 with 10:43 to play, but Benz connected on a three-pointer increasing the Albright lead to 53-46 at the 10:21 mark of the second half.
After a layup by
Devin Brown gave Albright a 55-50 lead with 8:47 left, Misericordia took the lead for good with a 14-0 run. Ware scored six points during the run and Erik Kerns added three points as the Cougars took a 64-55 lead with 4:09 left in the contest.
Misericordia took its largest lead of the game at 71-59 when Ware converted a three-point play with 1:55 remaining in the game.
Misericordia, which outscored Albright 42-24 in the paint, also received 16 points from Joe Busacca and 11 points from Griffin Sponaugle.
Albright opened the game on a 7-0 run and never trailed in the first half. The Lions largest lead of the period was at 32-23 when Benz converted two free throws with 46 seconds remaining in the first period.
Albright opens Commonwealth Conference action on Dec. 3 when it visits Widener for an 8 p.m. game.
