MONARCH MEN WIN 77-74 OVERTIME THRILLER OVER MANHATTANVILLE TO ADVANCE TO FREEDOM FINALS

WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College men's basketball team overcame a four-point deficit with 1:27 left in overtime as the Monarchs rallied to post a thrilling 77-74 victory over Manhattanville College in the Freedom Conference semi-finals Wednesday in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win, King's (18-8) advances to face top-seeded DeSales University, a 69-53 winner over Wilkes, in the conference championship game Saturday in Center Valley at 4:00 p.m.

It will mark the second straight year the two teams will do battle for the league crown as the Monarchs posted a dramatic 69-64 win a year ago in Wilkes-Barre.

King's would race out to a quick 7-0 lead thanks to three-pointers by Chris Hacker and Kevin Conroy. Manhattanville (17-9) would counter with a 13-6 surge to tie the score at 13-13 with 11:06 remaining. After the teams traded baskets, the Valiants would use a 10-3 run to build a 25-18 lead after a three-pointer from Donte Chisolm. The Monarchs would eventually tie the score at 25-25 with 4:25 on the clock but Manhattanville close out the half with a 7-2 spurt to take a 32-27 lead at the break.

The Valiants would pad the lead early in the second half when another three-pointer from Moffett gave the Valiants a 44-33 advantage with15:17 left in regulation. After King's cut the lead to 44-37 on a John Soboleski basket down low, the Valiants went on a 7-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 51-37 with 12:40 on the clock.

King's would chip away and eventually took a 60-58 lead on a basket by Kofi Dwebeng with 2:51 remaining. The Monarchs would then build a 64-60 lead on a pair of foul shots by Jamie Cousart with 1:04 remaining, but the Valiants would not go away. Chisolm would score with 0:51 left to cut the lead to 64-62. After a King's miss with 0:18 left, Moffett tied the game at 64-64 on a driving basket with 0:05 left to send the game into overtime.

In the extra session, Moffett would score to give Manhattanville a 66-64 lead but Soboleski tied the score with a pair of foul shots with 4:08 left. Brendan Flynn would drain a big three-pointer to put the Valiants on top 69-66 with 3:09 on the clock, but King's would crawl back to within 69-68 on a bucket by Cousart. Moffett would make a pair of foul shots to up the Valiant lead to 71-68 with 2:02 left. After an inside basket by Soboleski drew the Monarchs to within 71-70, Brian Fink canned a three-pointer from the left wing to give Manhattanville a 74-70 lead with 1:27 remaining.

From there, Vince Scalzo drained a critical three-pointer to cut the score to 74-73 with 0:37 remaining. After a Manhattanville turnover, Soboleski scored down low off a feed from Cousart to put the Monarchs ahead 75-74 with 0:16 on the clock. After a Valiant miss, Cousart was fouled and sank both charity tosses with 0:04 left to give King's a 77-74 lead. Fink would attempt a long three pointer at the buzzer that was well off the mark as King's escaped with the victory and its third Freedom Conference championship game appearance in the past four years.

Soboleski finished the game with 24 points and 16 rebounds while Cousart added 21 points, seven rebounds, and six assists to pace the Monarch attack. Welsh added nine points while Scalzo chipped in with seven.

Moffett led Manhattanville with 18 points while Fink and Chisolm added 17 and 14 points respectively


KING'S COLLEGE 77, MANHATTANVILLE 74

MANHATTANVILLE (17-9)
Cody Moffett 5-13 7-7 18; Brian Fink 7-12 0-2 17; Donte Chisolm 6-15 0-0 14; Angelo Laroche 2-10 2-2 7; Wesly Wicks 2-11 2-3 6; Eddie Huezo 2-2 0-0 4; Brendan Flynn 1-8 1-2 4; Jason Walsh 0-0 2-2 2; Lamar Glass 1-4 0-0 2; Mike Panella 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-75 14-18 74.

KING'S COLLEGE (18-8)
John Soboleski 8-12 8-13 24; Jamie Cousart 4-9 11-12 21; Jim Welsh 3-7 0-0 9; Vince Scalzo 2-2 1-1 7; Kofi Dwebeng 2-9 0-0 5; Ryan Nenstiel 2-8 0-0 5; Kevin Conroy 1-4 0-0 3; Chris Hacker 1-3 0-0 3; Jim Schule 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 20-26 77.

Manhattanville................ 32 32 10 - 74
King's College................ 27 37 13 - 77

3-point goals--Manhattanville 8-25 (Brian Fink 3-6; Donte Chisolm 2-4; Cody Moffett 1-4; Angelo Laroche 1-4; Brendan Flynn 1-4; Lamar Glass 0-2; Wesly Wicks 0-1), King's College 11-25 (Jim Welsh 3-7; Vince Scalzo 2-2; Jamie Cousart 2-3; Kevin Conroy 1-2; Kofi Dwebeng 1-4; Chris Hacker 1-1; Ryan Nenstiel 1-6). Fouled out--Manhattanville-None, King's College-None. Rebounds--Manhattanville 43 (Angelo Laroche 7), King's College 43 (John Soboleski 16). Assists--Manhattanville 12 (Donte Chisolm 5), King's College 14 (Jamie Cousart 6). Total fouls--Manhattanville 20, King's College 14. Technical fouls--Manhattanville-None, King's College-None. A-650