KING'S DOWNS DESALES FOR FREEDOM TITLE
(Secure Third NCAA National Berth in Four Years)
CENTER VALLEY – Ryan Nenstiel scored 21 points and John Soboleski added 12 to earn tournament most valuable player honors as the King's College men's basketball team won its second straight Freedom Conference championship with a 71-62 victory over host DeSales University Saturday in Billera Hall.
With the win, King's improved to 19-8 on the year and receives an automatic berth in to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. It also marks King's third Freedom Conference title in four years DeSales, meanwhile, slipped to 21-6 and will hope for an at-large bid.
In the first half DeSales would start out quick, building a 7-3 lead following a three-pointer by Matt Zwetolitz. The King's would trail until Vince Scalzo and Ryan Nenstiel canned three-pointers to knot the score at 13-13 with 14:04 left in the half. DeSales, however, would used a 6-0 run to take a 19-13 lead following a bucket down low by Ed Lapinski, but the Monarchs countered with a 9-0 surge, capped by a Nenstiel three-pointer and a transition lay-up from John Soboleski as King's took a 22-19 lead with 8:30 remaining.
DeSales quickly tied the score on a three-pointer by Eddie Ohlson, but a short jumper form Nenstiel put the Monarchs back on top 24-22 with 7:13 on the clock. After Darnell Braswell canned a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 25-24 lead with 5:54 left, the Monarchs used a trey from Kofi Dwebeng, a pair of foul shots from Soboleski, and a Jamie Cousart lay-up with 0:04 on the clock to closed out a 7-3 surge to take a 31-28 lead at the break. Nenstiel led King's with eight first half points while Scalzo and Soboleski added six each.
DeSales would again come out fast in the second half and took a 38-35 lead on a three-pointer from Braswell and a bucket by Lapinski. The Monarchs would fight back to take a 43-41 lead after a bucket by Cousart and one-of-two foul shots from Chris Hacker to build a 43-41 lead with 15:35 left. After DeSales tied the sore at 43-43, the Monarchs would go on a 10-4 run to take a 53-47 lead on three-pointer by Dwebeng.
DeSales would close to within 53-50 on a Jamie McKloskey trey, but King's used another 5-0 surge to take a 58-50 lead after a short jumper form Jim Schule. After the Bulldogs used a three-pointer Zwetolitz to cut the score to 60-54 with 5:28 remaining, King's again answered the call on back-to-back baskets from Soboleski and Cousart to build a 64-54 lead with 3:26 remaining. DeSales would come no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Nenstiel made 7-of-11 shots from the field, including three three-pointers coming off the bench to pace the Monarchs' balanced attack which say all nine players reach the scoring column. Scalzo added nine points while Conroy tallied seven. Hacker, Cousart, and Dwebeng netted six each. Cousart led the team with five rebounds while adding three assists. Soboleski contributed four assists and four rebounds while Nenstiel tallied four rebounds as well.
Soboleski, who tallied 24 points and 16 rebounds in King's 77-74 overtime win over Manhattanville on Wednesday, was selected as the most valuable player of the Freedom tourney, averaging 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in two tournament games.
The Monarchs shot 51.9 (27-52) percent from the field and 44.4 (8-18) percent from three-point range. DeSales converted 40.7 (22-54) percent of its shots and 33.3 (9-of-28) percent from three-point range. Both teams were 9-of-14 from the foul line.
Stricker led DeSales with 20 points while Lapinski and Braswell chipped in with 12 and 10 respectively.
Over the past four years, King's senior class, paced by Cousart, Scalzo, Soboleski, and Welsh, have posted a combined 79-32 record with four straight Freedom Conference berths and three titles.
Ironically, all three of King's recent titles have come against DeSales. The Monarchs won the 2005 game 77-72 in Billera Hall, before posting a 67-64 thriller a year ago in Scandlon Gymnasium.
King's will now await word on their NCAA tournament destination. Pairings are slated to be announced Monday at 12:00 noon.
KING'S COLLEGE 71, DESALES UNIVERSITY 62
KING'S COLLEGE (19-8 overall)
Ryan Nenstiel 7-11 4-4 21; John Soboleski 5-11 2-4 12; Vince Scalzo 3-7 1-2 9; Kevin Conroy 3-3 1-2 7; Jamie Cousart 3-9 0-0 6; Kofi Dwebeng 2-5 0-0 6; Chris Hacker 2-3 1-2 6; Jim Schule 1-1 0-0 2; Jim Welsh 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 27-52 9-14 71.
DESALES UNIVERSITY (21-6 overall)
Phil Stricker 6-11 7-10 20; Ed Lapinski 6-11 0-0 12; Darnell Braswell 3-11 1-3 10; Jamie McCloskey 2-4 1-1 6; Matt Zwetolitz 2-6 0-0 6; Eddie Ohlson 2-7 0-0 6; Jim Malatesta 1-1 0-0 2; Eric Salem 0-1 0-0 0; Rob Schubach 0-2 0-0 0; Charles Princiotto 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 9-14 62.
King's College................... 31 40 - 71
DeSales University............ 28 34 - 62
3-point goals--King's College 8-18 (Ryan Nenstiel 3-5; Kofi Dwebeng 2-4; Vince Scalzo 2-6; Chris Hacker 1-1; Jim Welsh 0-1; Jamie Cousart 0-1), DeSales University 9-27 (Darnell Braswell 3-7; Eddie Ohlson 2-3; Matt Zwetolitz 2-6; Jamie McCloskey 1-3; Phil Stricker 1-2; Eric Salem 0-1; Rob Schubach 0-2; Ed Lapinski 0-3). Fouled out--King's College-None, DeSales University-None. Rebounds--King's College 28 (Jamie Cousart 5), DeSales University 32 (Phil Stricker 13). Assists--King's College 14 (John Soboleski 4), DeSales University 16 (Eddie Ohlson 8). Total fouls--King's College 13, DeSales University 11. Technical fouls--King's College-None, DeSales University-None. A-850
