KING'S MEN'S BASKETBALL FALLS IN OVERTIME AGAINST MANHATTANVILLE, 76-75

WILKES-BARRE – Visiting Manhattanville College saw three players reach double figures in scoring, including a 19-point, five rebound effort from Trevoy Pointer, as the Valiants edged out King's College 76-75 in overtime Saturday afternoon in Freedom men's basketball action.

With the loss King's drops to 2-4 overall and remains winless in Freedom play at 0-2. Manhattanville improves to 6-1 on the year, 2-0 in league games.

The Valiants held a 65-61 advantage with 4:12 left in regulation following layups from Glen Rodriguez and Peter Mehmel. The Monarchs answered as sophomore forward Mike McCready (Bethlehem, PA, Freedom) cashed in twice from the foul line and senior forward Kevin Conroy (Chatham, NJ, Chatam) hit a jumper in the post tying the game for the seventh time at 67-67 with 2:52 left. Another Conroy jumper gave King's a 69-67 advantage with 1:20 remaining, but Pointer came to the rescue late canning an off-balanced jumper with 15 seconds remaining to send the game to the extra period.  

In overtime, King's took the lead on their first possession after a Conroy score inside. Manhattanville tied the game for the ninth time with a layup in transition with 3:13 left. Conroy answered again hitting two free throws to give the Monarchs a 73-71 lead with 2:36 remaining. From there, Manhattanville's Felipe Vargas connected on a deep three-pointer in the right corner to take back the lead, 74-73. After a King's turnover, Manhattanville added one of two free throws to extend the lead to two 75-73 with 1:14 left. Following a miss shot inside, King's freshman forward Chris Hobson (Malvern, PA, Great Valley) collected a huge offensive rebound and was fouled with 53 seconds on the clock. The freshman calmly sank both from the stripe to tie the game for the tenth time, 75-75. Manhattanville would miss a trey on their next possession, but Peter Mehmel grabbed the rebound and was fouled on the put-back with 34 seconds left. Mehmel hit one of two free throws to give the visitors a one-point advantage. King's had one last chance to win the game, but a baseline fall-away jumper from Conroy fell off the rim and the Valiants escaped with an important early season road victory.

Neither team led by more than nine points in the first half, as both squads traded baskets in the early going. Sophomore guard Matt Fiorino (North Brunswick, NJ, Bishop Ahr) had the hot hand in the opening frame, hitting two treys to spark the Monarchs. King's took a 35-31 lead into the break.

In the second half, junior guard Nick Reisig (Richboro, PA, CR North) caught the hot hand, scoring 11 points including a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance. The Monarchs took their biggest lead of the game, 43-35, at the 17:19 mark. The lead would be short lived as a 9-0 run over the next four minutes gave Manhattanville a 46-45 advantage midway through the frame.

The free throw line proved to be a thorn in the Monarchs side throughout the contest. King's was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line in the first half, but struggled in the second frame shooting only 52.4 percent (11-for-21) from the stripe. King's finished the game shooting 20-for-32 from the line. The Monarchs held a slim 42-39 advantage on the boards.

Conroy, who was plagued with foul trouble throughout, led King's with 19 points and five rebounds. Reisig finished with a season-high 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from long range. Fiorino rounded out the double figure scorers for King's posting 10 points. McCready was solid inside adding eight points and four rebounds.

Mehmel and Vargas joined Pointer in double figures finishing with 17 points and 13 points respectively. Mehmel was 7-for-11 from the free throw line including several buckets from the stripe down the stretch. Ivan Jovicic added nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range.

King's will take a break from Freedom play next week as the Monarchs welcome Penn State Hazleton Tuesday for a non-conference matchup scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in Scandlon Gymnasium.

MANHATTANVILLE COLLE 76, KING'S COLLEGE 75

MANHATTANVILLE COLLE (6-1, 2-0 Freedom)

Trevoy Pointer 8-19 3-4 19; Peter Mehmel 5-5 7-11 17; Felipe Vargas 4-7 4-4 13; Ivan Jovicic 3-6 0-0 9; Glen Rodriguez 3-9 0-0 6; Jay Ferriere 2-3 0-0 4; Matt Cornwell 1-1 1-2 3; Lamar Glass 1-7 0-0 3; Jack RailtonWoodcock 1-1 0-0 2; Jeffrey Ventura 0-1 0-0 0; Chrys Malone 0-2 0-0 0; Brian Bertucci 0-0 0-0  0; Jack Bramswig 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-62 15-21 76.

KING'S COLLEGE (2-4, 0-2 Freedom)

Kevin Conroy 7-11 5-11 19; Nick Reisig 5-7 2-2 16; Matt Fiorino 3-11 2-2 10; Chris Hobson 3-9 2-2 8; Mike McCready 3-4 2-5 8; Kyle Stackhouse 0-6 6-8 6; Ian Oakley 1-2 1-2 3; Joe Caffrey 1-2 0-0 3; Kyle Hammonds 1-9 0-0 2; Dan Maguschak 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-63 20-32 75.

Manhattanville Colle..........   31   38    7  -   76

King's College................     35   34    6  -   75

3-point goals--Manhattanville Colle 5-19 (Ivan Jovicic 3-6; Lamar Glass 1-5; Felipe Vargas 1-4; Jay Ferriere 0-1; Jeffrey Ventura 0-1; Trevoy Pointer 0-2), King's College 7-21 (Nick Reisig 4-5; Matt Fiorino 2-9; Joe Caffrey 1-2; Kyle Hammonds 0-5). Fouled out--Manhattanville Colle-Glen Rodriguez, King's College-Mike McCready. Rebounds--Manhattanville Colle 39 (Peter Mehmel 9), King's College 42 (Kyle Stackhouse 6). Assists--Manhattanville Colle 14 (Lamar Glass 4), King's College 12 (Kyle Stackhouse 4). Total fouls--Manhattanville Colle 24, King's College 20. Technical

fouls--Manhattanville Colle-None, King's College-None. A-250