MONARCHS FALL TO DESALES IN FREEDOM CONTEST, 62-60

CENTER VALLEY -- Darnell Braswell drained a critical three-pointer with 1:31 remaining and Kofi Dwebeng's desperation shot at the buzzer was off the mark as the Bulldogs held off visiting King's College 62-60 in a Freedom Conference matchup Wednesday in Center Valley.

With the win, DeSales improved to 14-2 overall and 4-0 in Freedom Conference play. King's, meanwhile, slipped to 9-7 and 2-2 in league games.

Trailing 58-50 with 4:20 remaining, King's fought back and tied the score at 58-58 on a basket by Jim Welsh with 1:56 left. Braswell, however, would answer with a huge three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 61-58 lead with 1:31 remaining.

King's would cut the lead to 61-60 when John Soboleski scored down low with 0:21 left. The Monarchs would foul Eddie Ohlson who made the first of two foul shots with 0:14 left. Soboleski would secure the rebound, but Dwebeng would miss a jumper with 0:04 left. DeSales' Ed Lapinski would was immediately fouled with 0:03 left, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Soboleski would rebound and passed to Dwebeng whose half-court desperation shot fell short as the Bulldogs would escape with the home-court victory.

Both teams struggled offensively in the early going, but the Monarchs managed to build a 20-10 lead with 7:22 left in the first half following a Ryan Nenstiel three-pointer and a bucket down low by Soboleski.

DeSales would answer with an 8-0 surge and cut the lead to 20-18 on a lay-up by Phil Stricker with 4:50 on the clock. The Bulldogs would take its first lead since the opening minute of play when Braswell three-pointer gave DeSales a 23-22 lead, but King's countered with a Dwebeng try to recapture a 25-23 advantage with 3:14 remaining. Nenstiel would add a lay-up with 2:34 on the clock and neither team would score again as the Monarchs took a 27-23 lead at the break.

In the second stanza, the Monarchs would use five straight points from Soboleski to forge a 35-25 lead with 18:28 remaining in the contest. DeSales would answer with a critical 10-0 run and tied the game at 35-35 on a three-pointer by Ed Lapinski.

With the Monarchs holding a 42-38 lead with 13:24 left after Jamie Cousart made one-of-two foul shots, DeSales again tied the score at 42-42 on buckets by Braswell and Stricker. King's countered with a 5-0 spurt on a basket by Jim Schule and a three-pointer from Jim Welsh to take a 47-42 lead with 11:40 on the clock.

After Dwebeng made one-of-two foul shots to give the Monarchs a 50-47 lead with 8:43 remaining, the Bulldogs again used a three-pointer by Matt Zwetolitz with 8:34 to ignite a decisive 10-0 run, capped by a Stricker lay-up with 4:20 remaining to give DeSales a 58-50 lead.

Soboleski led King's with 16 points and five rebounds while Vince Scalzo added 11 points and four boards. King's leading scorer Cousart, who entered the game averaging over 16 points per-game, scored just five points on 2-of-9 shooting. Dwebeng netted eight points while Nenstiel added seven.

Zwetoliz led DeSales with 16 points followed by Stricker with 13 and Braswell with 11.

The Monarchs continued to struggle at the foul line, making just 4-of-12 free throws. DeSales fared just as poorly, making only 3-of-10.

King's will next host Arcadia University in a rare 8:00 p.m. Saturday night contest in Scandlon Gymnasium. The game will be preceded by the King's-Arcadia women's game at 6:00 p.m. and a 10:00 a.m. home quadrangular wrestling meet.


DESALES UNIVERSITY 62, KING'S COLLEGE 60

KING'S COLLEGE (9-7, 2-2 Conf.)
John Soboleski 7-14 2-6 16; Vince Scalzo 4-9 0-1 11; Kofi Dwebeng 3-8 1-2 8; Ryan Nenstiel 3-3 0-0 7; Jim Welsh 2-3 0-0 5; Jamie Cousart 2-9 1-2 5; Kevin Conroy 2-7 0-0 4; Jim Schule 2-2 0-0 4; Chris Hacker 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 25-57 4-12 60.

DESALES UNIVERSITY (14-2, 4-0 Conf.)
Matt Zwetolitz 6-10 0-0 16; Phil Stricker 6-11 1-1 13; Darnell Braswell 4-9
1-4 11; Ed Lapinski 4-6 0-1 10; Eddie Ohlson 2-6 1-3 6; Eric Salem 2-4 0-1
4; Jim Malatesta 1-2 0-0 2; Richard Harmon 0-0 0-0 0; Jamie McCloskey 0-1 0-0 0; Eddie Ward 0-0 0-0 0; Charles Princiotto 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 3-10 62.

King's College................... 27 33 - 60
DeSales University............ 23 39 - 62

3-point goals--King's College 6-15 (Vince Scalzo 3-5; Jim Welsh 1-2; Kofi
Dwebeng 1-5; Ryan Nenstiel 1-1; Kevin Conroy 0-1; Jamie Cousart 0-1),
DeSales University 9-19 (Matt Zwetolitz 4-8; Ed Lapinski 2-3; Darnell
Braswell 2-3; Eddie Ohlson 1-2; Jamie McCloskey 0-1; Eric Salem 0-2). Fouled out--King's College-None, DeSales University-None. Rebounds--King's College 36 (Jamie Cousart 8), DeSales University 31 (Phil Stricker 8). Assists--King's College 17 (Kofi Dwebeng 6), DeSales University 14 (Eddie Ohlson 5). Total fouls--King's College 16, DeSales University 16. Technical fouls--King's College-None, DeSales University-None. A-600