FEBRUARY 3, 2010
KING'S MEN'S BASKETBALL FALLS TO EASTERN, 70-55 TO FORGE SECOND-PLACE TIE
ST. DAVID'S -- Martin Soaries scored 26 points to power the host Eastern University men's basketball team to a 70-55 victory over King's College in an important Freedom Conference matchup Wednesday in St. David's.
With the loss, the Monarchs fell to 10-10 overall and 6-3 in Freedom Conference games. Eastern, meanwhile, improved to 10-10 overall and 6-3 in league play, leaving the two teams locked in a second-place tie in the conference standings. The Eagles, however, swept King's in the two regular-season matchups between the teams and would hold the head-to-head tie-breaker should the squads finish deadlocked in the league standings.
The teams battled back and forth on even terms in the first half as King's tied the score at 25-25 on an Adam Brasky three-pointer with 3:50 on the clock. Eastern, however, would used four points from Martin Soaries, and baskets from Colin Whipple and Paul Trusty to build a 33-25 lead with 0:52 remaining in the half. After the Monarchs closed to within 33-28 on a Mike McCready inside basket, Eastern used a three-pointer from Soaries with 0:04 on the clock to cap a 11-3 Eagle run to take a 36-28 lead into the break.
In the second half Eastern continued to control play and eventually built a 49-37 lead following a three-pointer from Soaries with 13:34 left in the contest. King's countered with a 14-7 surge and cut the lead to 56-51 on a three-point play by Jim Schule at the 4:07 mark.
After Chris Myers scored on a lay-up for the Eagles with 2:47 remaining, the turning point came when Soaries was fouled attempting a three-pointer with 2:03 on the clock. The Eastern standout canned all three foul shots to push the lead to 61-51.
Kyle Stackhouse brought the Monarchs to within 61-53 with a short jumper and King's had an opportunity to take advantage after Myers missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:43 to play. But Mike Wagner missed on a three-pointer for the Monarchs and Soaries responded by scoring on a driving lay-up to give the Eagles a 63-53 advantage with 1:21 left.
After a King's miss, the Monarchs were forced to foul and Myers made both charity tosses to push the score to 65-53 with 1:08 to play. Mike McCready scored down low for the Monarchs to bring the score to 65-55 with 0:50 remaining, but Soaries put in the final dagger with a traditional three-point play with 0:41 on the clock to give Eastern a 68-55 lead.
King's was paced by Conroy with 12 points and 12 rebounds while Schule added nine points and eight boards. Stackhouse added seven points, four rebounds, and three assists while Brasky also chipped in with seven points and three assists.
Derek Wright joined Soaries in double-figures with 12 points for Eastern.
King's returns to the court on Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. matchup with FDU-Florham in Madison, NJ.
EASTERN 70, KING'S COLLEGE 55
KING'S COLLEGE (10-10, 6-3)
Kevin Conroy 4-9 4-10 12; Jim Schule 4-7 1-3 9; Kyle Stackhouse 3-6 1-2 7; Adam Brasky 3-6 0-0 7; Dan Maguschak 2-8 2-2 6; Nick Reisig 2-6 0-0 6; Mike McCready 2-4 1-2 5; Mike Wagner 1-6 0-0 3; Matt Fiorino 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 9-19 55.
EASTERN (10-10, 6-3)
Martin Soaries 9-15 6-6 26; Derek Wright 5-7 0-0 12; Collin Whipple 4-10 0-0 9; Alex Nelson 3-10 0-0 8; Chris Myers 2-4 2-3 7; Kyle Malloy 3-5 0-0 6; Paul Trusty 1-3 0-0 2; Edwin Mbanda 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 8-9 70.
King's College.................. 28 27 - 55
Eastern........................... 36 34 - 70
3-point goals--King's College 4-15 (Nick Reisig 2-5; Mike Wagner 1-6; Adam Brasky 1-3; Matt Fiorino 0-1), Eastern 8-16 (Alex Nelson 2-3; Derek Wright 2-3; Martin Soaries 2-3; Chris Myers 1-2; Collin Whipple 1-5). Fouled out--King's College-None, Eastern-Kyle Malloy. Rebounds--King's College 36 (Kevin Conroy 12), Eastern 27 (Alex Nelson 9). Assists--King's College 10 (Kyle Stackhouse 3; Adam Brasky 3), Eastern 18 (Martin Soaries 6). Total fouls--King's College 15, Eastern 16. Technical fouls--King's College-None, Eastern-None. A-550
