MONARCH MEN CLINCH SECOND SEED WITH 102-54 ROUTE OF DELAWARE VALLEY COLLEGE

WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College men's basketball team clinched the second seed in the Freedom Conference Tournament as the Monarchs blasted visiting Delaware Valley College 102-54 Saturday in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win, the Monarchs ended the regular season with a 17-8 overall record and a 9-3 Freedom Conference mar. King's, is in the midst of a seven-game winning streak, finished tied for first-place with DeSales and Manhattanville in the league standings but the Bulldogs were awarded the top-seed based on the Middle Atlantic Conferences tiebreaking criteria while the Monarchs garnered the second seed. Manhattanville is the third seed and will travel to King's for the first round of the conference tournament.

King's came out of the gates slowly and fell behind 9-5 in the early going but came back to tie the score at 9-9 with 15:10 remaining in the half on a pair of foul shots by Jamie Cousart. From there it was all King's as the Monarchs would outscore the Aggies 20-9 over the next 7:32 to build a 29-18 lead after a three-pointer form Ryan Nenstiel. After the Aggies cut the lead to 29-20, King's closed out the half with a 14-4 run nine points from John Soboleski, a bucket by Vince Scalzo, and a three-pointer from Jim Welsh as the Monarch advantage grew to 43-24 at the break.

In the second half Soboleski would dominate the pain, scoring 12 points during a 22-13 surge as King's increased the lead to 65-37 with 12:19 remaining in the game. The Monarchs would pad their lead from the three-point line when Scalzo connected from long range, followed by a pair of treys by Ryan Nenstiel. Soboleski would convert on the first three-pointer of his career as the King's lead swelled to 87-44 with 7:-5 on the clock. King's would later take a 50-point led with 3:41 remaining when Ian Gilmartin scored on a bucket down low to push the score to 98-46.

Soboleski led King's with 26 points, eight rebounds, and three assists, posting his fourth straight game scoring at least 26 points. The Monarch senior center made 9-of-12 shots from the floor and 7-of-10 from the foul line. Nenstiel added a season-high 24 points, going 8-of-10 from the field and 7-of-9 from three-point range. Cousart added 17 points, five rebounds, and three assists. King's coach J.P. Andrejko played all 18 players on the roster as 13 different Monarchs reached the scoring column.

King's will host Manhattanville College in the semi-final round of the Freedom Conference Tournament Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. in Scandlon Gymnasium. The game will tip off following the second-seeded King's women's team's semi-final game against FDU-Florham at 6:00 p.m.



KING'S COLLEGE 102, DELAWARE VALLEY 54

DELAWARE VALLEY (3-22/0-12 Freedom)
Jason Goldheimer 4-8 0-0 12; Matt Beichey 4-6 2-2 10; Brian Hilinski 3-7 3-4 10; Zack Van Dyke 2-4 0-0 5; Jason Seipt 2-10 0-0 4; Bill Gelsomini 1-7 2-2 4; Joe Lutz 1-3 0-0 3; Dan MacDonald 1-1 0-0 2; Kevin Lipinski 1-2 0-0 2; Tom Signore 1-1 0-0 2; Tyrice James 0-0 0-0 0; Andrew Augustine 0-0 0-0 0; Ryan Thomas 0-3 0-0 0; Josh Smith 0-0 0-0 0; Raheem Wiggins 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 7-8 54.

KING'S COLLEGE (17-8/9-3 Freedom)
John Soboleski 9-12 7-10 26; Ryan Nenstiel 8-10 1-1 24; Jamie Cousart 6-10 4-5 17; Jim Welsh 2-6 0-0 6; Jared Black 2-2 0-0 5; Vince Scalzo 2-4 0-0 5; Jim Schule 2-6 0-0 4; Ian Gilmartin 2-3 0-0 4; Kofi Dwebeng 1-7 1-2 4; Mike Wagner 1-1 0-2 3; Chris Hacker 1-3 0-0 2; Kevin Conroy 0-0 1-2 1; Pat Gerding 0-0 1-2 1; Adam Brasky 0-0 0-0 0; Nate Alcott 0-6 0-0 0; Jack Murphy 0-1 0-0 0; Harry Schlichter 0-1 0-0 0; Wil Acevedo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-72 15-24 102.

Delaware Valley.............. 24 30 - 54
King's College................ 43 59 - 102

3-point goals--Delaware Valley Coll 7-19 (Jason Goldheimer 4-5; Joe Lutz 1-3; Zack Van Dyke 1-2; Brian Hilinski 1-2; Kevin Lipinski 0-1; Ryan Thomas 0-2; Bill Gelsomini 0-3; Jason Seipt 0-1), King's College 15-30 (Ryan Nenstiel 7-9; Jim Welsh 2-5; Jared Black 1-1; Kofi Dwebeng 1-4; John Soboleski 1-1; Jamie Cousart 1-2; Vince Scalzo 1-3; Mike Wagner 1-1; Nate Alcott 0-4). Fouled out--Delaware Valley Coll-None, King's College-None. Rebounds--Delaware Valley Coll 31 (Matt Beichey 4; Jason Goldheimer 4; Bill Gelsomini 4), King's College 46 (John Soboleski 8). Assists--Delaware Valley Coll 7 (Jason Seipt 6), King's College 19 (Jamie Cousart 3; Jim Schule 3). Total fouls--Delaware Valley Coll 17, King's College 10. Technical fouls--Delaware Valley Coll-None, King's College-None. A-950