KING'S DEFEATS TUFTS IN FINAL GAME OF WILKES-BARRE CHALLENGE TO GO 2-0 AT EVENT

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WILKES-BARRE -- Jamie Cousart and Vince Scalzo combined for 33 points and Ryan Nenstiel added six important points in the latter stages of the game as the King's College men's basketball team posted a 76-65 victory over Tufts University in the final game of the round-robin Wilkes-Barre Challenge Scandlon Gym Sunday in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win, King's improved to 7-5 while Tufts slipped to 6-4.

With King's leading in the see-saw affair by a 38-36 count with 18:41 left in the contest, the Monarchs used a 10-2 surge thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Vince Scalzo to give the Monarchs a 48-38 lead with 16:29 left. Tufts would chip away and rallied to tied the score for the eighth time at 54-54 with 7:35 left on a three-pointer form Dan Cook, and four straight points by Jeremy Cook.

After the teams traded baskets, Kofi Dwebeng would convert two foul shots and Nenstiel followed with a driving lay-up to give the Monarchs a 60-56 advantage with 4:37 remaining. After Aaron Gallant made one-of-two charity tosses for the Jumbos to cut the lead to 60-57, Nenstiel followed with a driving lay-up before Scalzo converted a traditional three-point play to up the King's lead to 65-57 with 3:34 on the clock.

Tufts would answer with a three-pointer from Jon Pierce and a bucket under the basket from Jake Weitzen to bring Tufts to within 65-62 with 2:24 left.

From there, John Soboleski scored down low and Cousart made a pair of foul shots to give King's a 69-62 lead with 1:57 remaining. After a Jumbo turnover, Kofi Dwebeng made the second of two foul shots for King's to increase to increase the lead to 70-61 with 1:39 on the clock.

Tufts would draw to within 70-65 on a three-point play from Jon Pierce, but King's Nenstiel, Dwebeng, and Mike Wagner combined to make six-of-six from the foul line to push the Monarch lead to 76-65 with 0:40 on the clock.

Cousart earned a spot on the all-tournament team by scoring a team-high 17 points with five rebounds and five assists. Scalzo also earned a spot on the all-tournament team with 16 points and four boards. Nenstiel added 13 points while Dwebeng tallied nine points with three assists. Soboleski chipped in with seven points and five rebounds.

Pierce led Tufts with 21 points and 10 rebounds while Weitzen was named all-tournament after contributing 15 points, eight boards and four assists. Dave Beyel netted nine points with six rebounds

All Tournament Team (No MVP awarded)
Vinny Baumunk - Misericordia
Jake Weitzen - Tufts
Tom Kresge - Wilkes
Matt Gould - Wilkes
Vince Scalzo - King's
Jamie Cousart - King's


KING'S COLLEGE 76, TUFTS 65

TUFTS (6-4)
Jon Pierce 8-15 4-6 21; Jake Weitzen 5-14 4-6 15; Dave Beyel 4-16 0-0 9;
Jeremy Black 3-7 0-0 8; Dan Cook 1-3 0-0 3; Aaron Gallant 1-3 1-2 3; Pat
Sullivan 0-2 2-2 2; Tom Selby 1-2 0-0 2; Brian Lowry 1-2 0-0 2; Matt Galvin
0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-65 11-16 65.

KING'S COLLEGE (7-5)
Jamie Cousart 7-12 3-3 17; Vince Scalzo 6-11 1-2 16; Ryan Nenstiel 4-8 4-4 13; Kofi Dwebeng 1-4 7-8 9; John Soboleski 3-9 1-7 7; Chris Hacker 1-2 4-6 6; Mike Wagner 1-1 2-2 4; Adam Brasky 1-2 0-0 2; Jim Schule 1-2 0-0 2; Kevin Conroy 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 25-53 22-34 76.

Tufts.............................. 34 31 - 65
King's College................ 37 39 - 76

3-point goals--Tufts 6-20 (Jeremy Black 2-4; Jake Weitzen 1-4; Dan Cook 1-3; Jon Pierce 1-2; Dave Beyel 1-6; Aaron Gallant 0-1), King's College 4-10 (Vince Scalzo 3-4; Ryan Nenstiel 1-3; Adam Brasky 0-1; Kofi Dwebeng 0-1; Jamie Cousart 0-1). Fouled out--Tufts-Jeremy Black, King's College-John
Soboleski. Rebounds--Tufts 44 (Jon Pierce 10), King's College 35 (Jamie
Cousart 5; John Soboleski 5). Assists--Tufts 12 (Jake Weitzen 4), King's
College 15 (Jamie Cousart 5). Total fouls--Tufts 28, King's College 22.
Technical fouls--Tufts-None, King's College-None. A-225

Day two of the Wilkes-Barre Challenge round-robin event at King's College
No team title is awarded.