BOXSCORE
RADNOR, Pa. (Nov. 30) -- Cabrini junior Greg Clifton kept his remarkable streak alive with 30 points, his fourth career high in four games this year, but visiting Misericordia came back from a 31-point deficit to stun the Cavaliers 88-81 Thursday night in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC) opener for both teams.
For Misericordia (3-2), it was sweet payback for Jan. 30, 2006, when Cabrini stormed back from a 24-point deficit to beat the Cougars 61-52 on the road. The Cougars staggered on to a 6-19 record.
This time they overcame not just Clifton's explosion but another outstanding effort by junior forward Randy Reid, who rang up 17 points and equalled his career high with 14 rebounds. Junior guard Ryan Roa led Misericordia with 27 points and six assists.
Sophomore forward Vinny Baumunk put the Cougars on top 79-78 on a free throw with 51 seconds to go and added a bucket moments later to make it 81-78. Roa fed him for the score and wrapped things up by going 4 for 4 at the line in the waning seconds.
Clifton, the PAC Player of the Week for Nov. 20-26, put up a career-best 15 points in the season opener against No. 2-ranked Wooster, his first career start after two years as a backup. He followed up with 16 against Emory & Henry and 26 against Penn State-Berks.
Clifton, a 6-4 wing (shooting guard/small forward) from Sharon Hill, Pa., and Academy Park High, shot 10 for 17 from the field and 8 for 15 from three-point range against Misericordia. He helped Cabrini (1-3) open up a 44-29 halftime lead and then seemingly seal the deal by outscoring the Cougars 19-3 to start the second half.
Clifton opened the half by tossing in three straight three-pointers in 47 seconds, forcing the reeling Cougars to take a timeout and regroup before they could put up a point. Two minutes later, staring at a 63-32 deficit with 16 minutes to go, they still appeared to be dead in the water.
Perhaps they remembered what head coach Trevor Woodruff said after an 85-80 upst over DeSales three days earlier. "Let's build on this win and give Cabrini what they gave us last year," he told a jubilant locker room.
Whatever flipped the switch, Misericordia reeled off 17 straight points to cut the deficit to 63-49 with 11:11 remaining. Roa scored seven points during the flurry.
With just over six minutes to go, Cabrini still held a double-digit lead at 73-62. Then Roa scored five straight on a putback and a three-point dagger, slashing the margin to six with 5:33 left. Suddenly it was anybody's game.
Then it wasn't. Misericordia reeled off another 16 straight, turning a 78-72 deficit with 3:14 remaining into an 88-78 bulge before Cabrini freshman Charles Bush nailed a useless three-pointer at the buzzer.
Senior forward Matt Hornak pulled the Cougars even at 78-78 with 2:09 left and wound up with 16 points and seven rebounds. Baumunk contributed 17 points, five rebounds and three steals.
For Cabrini, Bush handed out seven assists for the second straight game and freshman forward Chris Blake had 10 points in 18 minutes, going 4 for 6 from the field and 2 for 2 from three-point range.
