DECEMBER 12, 2009
KING'S MEN DROP 71-70 DECISION TO ALBRIGHT IN MONARCH CLASSIC CONSOLATION GAME, SUSQUEHANNA WINS TOURNEY TITLE
WILKES-BARRE – The King's College men's basketball team was unable to make a six-point lead stand up over the final five minutes of play as Albright College rallied for an exciting 71-70 victory in the consolation game of the Ramada Inn/Monarch Classic Saturday in Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the win, Albright improved to 7-1 while King's fell to 2-7.
The Monarchs, who were manhandled by Albright 73-45 two weeks ago, played a much better game in the rematch. After the teams were deadlocked 34-34 at the half, the teams went back and forth throughout the second stanza. With the Monarchs trailing 54-53 with 11:02 remaining, King's used a 6-2 spurt to take a 59-55 lead after a pair of Kevin Conroy foul shots with 8:44 to play. After the Lions cut the lead to 61-60 following a Zac Shaeffer three-pointer at 7:33, the Monarchs used buckets by Dan Maguschak, Kyle Stackhouse, and a pair from Jim Schule to build a 69-63 advantage with 5:01 to play.
Albright, however, would battle back and eventually took a 71-69 lead with 1:51 on the clock after a driving lay-up and one of two foul shots on consecutive possessions by Shaeffer. King's had a chance to tie the score but Conroy made one-of-two foul shots with 0:51 remaining to narrow the lead to 71-70. After an Albright turnover with 0:15 to go, Conroy saw his go-ahead shot roll in and out but the Monarch junior snared his own miss. Conroy followed up again but the shot was partially blocked as time expired.
Stackhouse, who earned a spot on the all-tournament team, led King's with 18 points, five assists, and four rebounds while Mike Wagner followed with 14 points and four three-pointers. Conroy and Schule added 12 points each while Maguschak chipped in with 10.
Albright was paced by all-tournament pick Matt Ashcroft and Shaeffer who netted 21 and 20 points respectively.
King's returns to action January 2-3 with the anual Wilkes-Barre Challenge, a round-robin event also featuring Wilkes, Carthage, and John Jay.
ALBRIGHT COLLEGE 71, KING'S COLLEGE 70
ALBRIGHT COLLEGE (7-1)
Matt Ashcroft 8-11 2-2 21; Zac Shaeffer 7-12 3-4 20; Derek Hall 3-4 2-2 9; Cornell Mickens 3-3 0-0 7; Jeff Sparrow 3-5 1-2 7; Shane Irwin 2-6 1-2 5; Justin Plummer 1-2 0-0 2; Ryan Van Zelst 0-0 0-0 0; Adam Van Zelst 0-1 0-0 0; Kenneth Sullivan 0-0 0-0 0; Andrew Pomager 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-46 9-12 71.
KING'S COLLEGE (2-7)
Albright College.............. 34 37 - 71
King's College................. 34 36 - 70
3-point goals--Albright College 8-16 (Zac Shaeffer 3-6; Matt Ashcroft 3-6; Cornell Mickens 1-1; Derek Hall 1-1; Andrew Pomager 0-2), King's College 4-9 (Mike Wagner 4-5; Mike McCready 0-1; Bill Joyce 0-2; Adam Brasky 0-1). Fouled out--Albright College-None, King's College-None. Rebounds—Albright College 23 (Matt Ashcroft 4; Shane Irwin 4), King's College 25 (Mike McCready 6). Assists--Albright College 12 (Adam Van Zelst 4; Zac Shaeffer 4), King's College 16 (Kyle Stackhouse 5). Total fouls--Albright College 13, King's College 14. Technical fouls--Albright College-None, King's College-None. A-150
SUSQUEHANNA EDGES RICHARD STOCKTON TO CAPTURE MONARCH CLASSIC TITLE
WILKES-BARRE – Susquehanna University built an 11-point lead midway through the second half and held off a late rally to register a 69-66 upset over 13th ranked Richard Stockton College in the championship game of the Ramada Inn/Monarch Classic Saturday at King's College.
With the win, Susquehanna improved to 5-3 while Stockton, the 2009 NCAA Division III national runner-up, fell to 6-3.
Tournament most valuable player Spenser Spencer led Susquehanna with 24 points and four steals while Rob Estep contributed 10 points. All-tournament pick J.T. Estep added nine points and nine rebounds while Marcus Burke chipped in with eight points. The Crusaders were aided by strong three-point shooting, canning 10-of-25 from long range.
Stockton, which cut the lead to 68-66 with 1:02 left but could not get over the hump, was led by all-tournament selection Mike Farrow with 18 points and four rebounds. Santini Lancioni added 15 points and four boards while Kai Massaquoi earned a spot on the all-tournament team after tallying nine points, nine rebounds, and four assists in the title game.
SUSQUEHANNA 69, RICHARD STOCKTON 66
RICHARD STOCKTON (6-3)
Michael Farrow 7-9 4-5 18; Santini Lancioni 5-11 3-6 15; Omar Smith 6-9 2-4 14; Kai Massaquoi 2-9 5-5 9; Pat Kelly 2-8 0-0 6; DiAndre Brown 1-4 2-4 4; Nnamdi Usuwa 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Haddix 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 16-24 66.
SUSQUEHANNA (5-3)
Spenser Spencer 10-20 0-0 24; Rob Estep 4-6 0-0 10; J.T. Wilson 3-10 0-1 9; Marcus Burke 4-6 0-0 8; Jason Dawson 1-1 3-4 5; Bryan Majors 1-3 2-2 5; E.J. Duncan 1-3 1-2 3; Harvey Pannell 1-2 0-0 2; Fran Brzyski 1-1 0-2 2; Trevor Williamson 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 26-53 7-13 69.
Richard Stockton.............. 40 26 - 66
Susquehanna................... 42 27 - 69
3-point goals--Richard Stockton 4-19 (Santini Lancioni 2-7; Pat Kelly 2-8; Kai Massaquoi 0-1; DiAndre Brown 0-1; Michael Farrow 0-2), Susquehanna 10-25 (Spenser Spencer 4-12; J.T. Wilson 3-8; Rob Estep 2-2; Bryan Majors 1-2; E.J. Duncan 0-1). Fouled out--Richard Stockton-Omar Smith, Susquehanna-Bryan Majors. Rebounds--Richard Stockton 32 (Kai Massaquoi 9), Susquehanna 28 (J.T. Wilson 9). Assists--Richard Stockton 9 (Kai Massaquoi 4), Susquehanna 17 (Bryan Majors 4). Total fouls--Richard Stockton 16, Susquehanna 22. Technical fouls--Richard Stockton-None, Susquehanna-None. A-100
Championship game of the Ramada Inn/Monarch Classic at King's College
