WILKES-BARRE -- King's College senior center John Soboleski played the finest game of his career in the Monarchs' biggest game of the season, netting 28 points with 13 rebounds to key a critical 107-78 victory over visiting Manhattanville College Saturday in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the victory, King's improved to 15-8 overall and 7-3 in the Freedom Conference, moving to within one-half game of Manhattanville in the Freedom Conference standings. The Valiants, who came into the game tied for first-place with DeSales, fell to 16-7 and 8-3 and slipped to the second spot in the league standings.

Soboleski, who came into the game needing nine points to reach the 1,000-point plateau, hit the milestone on a foul shot with 4:05 remaining in the first half. He tallied 17 points in the opening stanza to give King's a 46-34 lead at the break. The Monarchs shot a scorching 56.0 (14-25) percent in the first half, including 5-of-11 from three-point range.

The Monarchs would continue the assault throughout he second half and quickly stretched the lead to 22 points at 64-42 on a three-point play by Soboleski. Back-to-back three-pointers by Ryan Nenstiel and Vince Scalzo would later enable the Monarch advantage to grow to 83-55 with 9:24 on the clock. King's would eventually take its biggest lead of the game at 104-69 on a Jim Welsh three-pointer with 3:24 remaining.

Soboleski made 7-of-11 from the field and was physically dominant in the paint. The Monarch standout went to the foul line on 19 occasions, making 14 attempts, while added five offensive rebounds in the process. Jamie Cousart added 20 points with eight rebounds and five assists while Chris hacker tallied a career-high 17 points with six rebounds. Kofi Dwebeng was the Monarchs fourth player to reach double-figures with 11 points while Scalzo and Welsh added nine and eight points to aid a balanced attack.

Manhattanville was led by Brian Fink with 19 points while Wesley Wicks followed with 15. Brendan Flynn and Cody Moffett added 13 and 12 points respectively. Moffett snared a team-high 11 rebounds.



KING'S COLLEGE 107, MANHATTANVILLE 78

MANHATTANVILLE (16-7/8-3 Freedom)
Brian Fink 6-10 4-5 19; Wesly Wicks 6-7 3-4 15; Brendan Flynn 4-10 3-3 13; Cody Moffett 3-10 6-10 12; Angelo Laroche 3-5 0-2 8; Peter Mehmel 1-2 2-5 4; Mike Horgan 1-1 0-0 3; Donte Chisolm 1-9 0-1 2; Lamar Glass 1-8 0-1 2; Eddie Huezo 0-5 0-0 0; Jason Walsh 0-0 0-0 0; Mike Panella 0-1 0-0 0; DeVon Barnett 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-71 18-31 78.


KING'S COLLEGE (15-8/7-3 Freedom)
John Soboleski 7-11 14-19 28; Jamie Cousart 5-9 9-11 20; Chris Hacker 7-13 2-5 17; Kofi Dwebeng 4-9 0-0 11; Vince Scalzo 3-4 0-0 9; Jim Welsh 3-4 0-0 8; Kevin Conroy 2-3 2-2 6; Ryan Nenstiel 2-3 0-0 6; Jim Schule 1-4 0-0 2; Mike Wagner 0-2 0-0 0; Nate Alcott 0-0 0-0 0; Jared Black 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-63 27-37 107.

Manhattanville................ 34 44 - 78
King's College................ 46 61 - 107

3-point goals--Manhattanville 8-24 (Brian Fink 3-7; Brendan Flynn 2-4; Angelo Laroche 2-3; Mike Horgan 1-1; Donte Chisolm 0-1; Lamar Glass 0-3; Mike Panella 0-1; DeVon Barnett 0-1; Cody Moffett 0-3), King's College 12-21 (Vince Scalzo 3-4; Kofi Dwebeng 3-6; Ryan Nenstiel 2-3; Jim Welsh 2-3; Jamie Cousart 1-2; Chris Hacker 1-2; Jared Black 0-1). Fouled out--Manhattanville-None, King's College-None. Rebounds--Manhattanville 41 (Cody Moffett 11), King's College 49 (John Soboleski 13). Assists--Manhattanville 8 (Donte Chisolm 2; Brian Fink 2), King's College 18 (Jim Schule 5; Jamie Cousart 5). Total fouls--Manhattanville 24, King's College 20. Technical fouls--Manhattanville-None, King's College-None. A-1150