JANUARY 2, 2009
KING'S HOSTING 7TH ANNUAL WILKES-BARRE CHALLENGE JANUARY 2-3 AS CARTHAGE, JOHN JAY JOINING FIELD WHICH INCLUDES WILKES
WILKES-BARRE -- For the seventh consecutive year, two out-of-town teams will venture to Wilkes-Barre to face hometown rivals King's College and Wilkes University in the annual Wilkes-Barre Challenge Saturday and Sunday in King's Scandlon Gymnasium.
During the 2002-03 season King's coach J.P. Andrejko and Wilkes mentor Jerry Rickrode joined forces to organize the Wilkes-Barre Challenge with the goal of inviting two teams from beyond the city limits to travel to Wilkes-Barre to compete in a two-day, round-robin affair. The first Wilkes-Barre Challenge took place on January 7, 2004 in the Wilkes Marts Center. Six years later, Carthage College of Wisconsin and New York City-based John Jay College of Criminal Justice will make the trek to the Wyoming Valley to face Wilkes and host King's in the seventh Wilkes-Barre Challenge.
On Saturday, Carthage, ranked 23rd nationally in Division III, will face Wilkes at 6:00 p.m. in King's Scandlon Gym. In the second day-one pairing, John Jay will square off against King's at 8:00 p.m. On Sunday, the matchups will change as Wilkes plays John Jay at 1:00 p.m. while Carthage and King's meet at 3:00 p.m.
Fans can follow the action of all tournament games on LiveStats, available at the following link:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/mbball/index.htm
Carthage will also provide a live radio/voicestream broadcast over the Internet of both games played by the Red Men. Carthage will broadcast Saturday's game against Wilkes and Sunday's game versus King's. The voicestream is available at the following link:
http://www.carthage.edu/ais/webcast/streaming.html
King's enters the Wilkes-Barre Challenge with a 2-7 record after a 71-70 loss to Albright in the consolation game of the Ramada Inn/Monarch Classic on December 12. Junior center-forward Kevin Conroy tops the squad with 13.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 14 assists. Sophomore guard Kyle Stackhouse follows with 8.7 points, 4.6 boards, 33 assists and 15 steals while senior guard Mike Wagner contributes 8.2 points, 15 assists and 13 steals. Senior forward Jim Schule nets 7.6 points with 4.8 rebounds, 11 steals and nine assists while sophomore guard-forward Nick Reisig adds 6.1 points, 3.4 boards, 14 assists and 10 steals. Senior guard Wil Acevedo has tallied 4.5 points while freshman forward Mike McCready posts 4.0 points, and 2.4 rebounds. King's averages 58.4 points per-game while allowing 66.0 each contest.
Wilkes stands at 5-3 on the year following a 82-70 road win over Lycoming on December 12. The Colonels are led by senior forward Tom Kresge who enters the event averaging 19.0 points and 9.0 rebounds, with 15 assists and 13 blocked shots. Junior guard Chris DeRojas follows with 15.5 points, 27 assists and 16 steals with 19 three-pointers. Senior forward Anthony Gabriel adds 11.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 10 steals and nine assists while sophomore guard-forward Paul Huch contributes 10.3 points, 7.3 assists, 14 assists, 13 steals, and 11 blocked shots. Sophomore forward Kendall Hinze tallies 5.3 points and 3.5 boards while freshman guard Tyler Breznitsky registers 4.3 points, 24 assists and 11 steals. The Colonels average 75.0 points while yielding 64.8 per-game.
Carthage, which is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, enters the Wilkes-Barre Challenge with a 7-2 record after recording a 90-68 victory over Calumet College on Saturday and are currently ranked 23rd in the nation according to the latest D3Hoops.com national poll. The Red Men have been led by 6-foot-3 junior guard Steve Djurickovic with 23.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists with 11 three-pointers. Freshman forward Tyler Pierce follows with 14.3 points, and 5.9 rebounds while sophomore guard Max Cary adds 14.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 11 blocked shots while canning 15 three-pointers. Freshman forward Raul Guzman tallies 11.2 points and 5.7 boards with 17 three-pointers while fellow rookie guard Malcom Kelly posts 4.8 points with 2.8 rebounds. Freshman forward Mitch Thompson registers 4.6 points and 3.8 rebounds while senior guard Cody Hilton chips in with 4.2 points Carthage averages 82.0 points per-game while allowing 69.4 each contest.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice enters the tournament with a 1-9 mark after a 76-56 loss to Averett University in the consolation game of the Hampden-Sydney Holiday Tournament on Wednesday. The Bloodhounds are led by senior forward Vaughn Mason with 16.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 11 steals and seven assists. Junior forward Chris Jaeger follows with 12.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 15 assists, eight steals and six blocked shots. Senior forward Daniel Desir adds 8.6 points, 7.0 boards, seven steals and six assists while freshman forward Darryl Dennis contributes 6.9 points, 19 assist and 12 steals. Junior guard David Williams tallies 6.1 points, 19 assists and 14 steals while senior guard Ryan Olsen has registered 5.4 points and six steals. The Bloodhounds average 59.3 points per-game, while allowing 77.7 each contest.
