DECEMBER 2, 2009
MONARCH MEN DROP FREEDOM CONFERENCE OPENER TO EASTERN
WILKES-BARRE – The King's College men's basketball team opened up its 2009-10 Freedom Conference schedule on a down note as the Monarchs dropped a 61-48 verdict to visiting Eastern University Wednesday in Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the loss, King's fell to 1-5 on the year while Eastern improved to 3-3.
King's took an early 5-0 lead on a bucket down low by Kvin Conroy and a three-pointer from Nick Reisig. Eastern would fight back and tied the game at 9-9 following a lay-up by Jason Reels with 12:46 remaining in the first half. The teams traded bucksts for much of the next six minutes as a King's bucket by Danny Maguschak knotted the score at 16-16 with 6:31 on the clock.
From there, Eastern closed out the half with a 11-2 surge to build a 27-18 advantage with 1:55 left in the opening stanza. The Monarchs would close to within 27-20 at the break following a Mike McCready basket with 0:19 to go.
In the second half the Eagles stretched the lead to 11 points when a Alex Nelson jumper pushed the score to 34-23, but King's answered with a short jumper by Jim Schule and a three-pointer by Eric Brown to bring the Monarchs to within 34-28 at the 16:23 mark.
Eastern, however, would respond with a 6-0 spurt to take a 40-28 lead on a Collin Whipple bucket. King's would close to nine points twice, the last coming at 49-40 after an Adam Brasky jumper with 6:36 remaining. The Eagles once again countered and outscored the Monarchs 12-8 the rest of the way to seal the victory.
Jason Reels led Eastern with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Martin Soares followed with 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists. The Eagles made 25-of-55 attempts from the field and were 7-16 from three-point range.
King's was paced by Conroy who tallied 11 points and two rebounds while Reisig followed with 10 points and eight rebounds. Kyle Stackhouse dished out five assists while Mike Wagner added four steals.
King's will next travel to Purchase, NY on Saturday to face Manhattanville College at 3:00 p.m.
EASTERN 61, KING'S COLLEGE 48
EASTERN (3-3, 1-0 Freedom)
Jason Reels 10-17 0-0 24; Martin Soaries 6-11 0-0 14; Chris Myers 3-6 0-0 6; Collin Whipple 3-7 0-0 6; Alex Nelson 2-5 0-0 4; Edwin Mbanda 2-4 0-0 4; Derek Wright 1-4 0-0 3; Paul Trusty 0-0 0-0 0; Kyle Malloy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 0-0 61.
KING'S COLLEGE (1-5, 0-1 Freedom)
Eastern....................... 27 34 - 61
King's…….................. 20 28 - 48
3-point goals--Eastern 7-16 (Jason Reels 4-6; Martin Soaries 2-4; Derek Wright 1-1; Alex Nelson 0-1; Collin Whipple 0-3; Chris Myers 0-1), King's College 5-18 (Nick Reisig 2-8; Eric Brown 2-2; Adam Brasky 1-1; Mike Wagner 0-3; Matt Fiorino 0-2; Dan Maguschak 0-2). Fouled out--Eastern-None, King's College-None. Rebounds--Eastern 38 (Jason Reels 10), King's College 26 (Nick Reisig 8). Assists--Eastern 16 (Collin Whipple 6), King's College 12 (Kyle Stackhouse 5). Total fouls--Eastern 14, King's College 11. Technical fouls--Eastern-None, King's College-None. A-200
