Kevin Conroy
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Kevin Conroy scored 25 points as the Monarchs held off Penn College 83-79

King's Men's Basketball Squad Survives Penn College, 83-79 Behind Conroy, Fiorino

1/26/2011 9:48:06 PM

JANUARY 26, 2011

KING'S BASKETBALL SURVIVES PENN COLLEGE, 83-79

WILKES-BARRE — Perhaps it was playing a second straight non-league game in one week while being in the midst of a rugged Freedom Conference schedule. Or maybe it was the game's delayed start caused by the visiting team's late arriving bus due to the inclement weather.

Whatever the reason, the King's College men's basketball team was merely a shell of itself and put forth perhaps its most sluggish effort of the season. Fortunately, it was just enough.

Matt Fiorino
Kevin Conroy and Matt Fiorino (left) combined for 47 points as the Monarchs survived a gritty Penn College squad 83-79 Wednesday night in Scandlon Gymnasium. With the win, King's improved to 11-7 overall while the Wildcats slipped to 6-9.

All began well for the Monarchs as six points each from Conroy and Fiorino enabled King's to open up a quick 14-4 lead after just 5:20.  But just as quick as the Monarchs built a 10-point advantage, the Wildcats made it disappear. Penn College countered with a 13-0 run and promptly took a 17-14 lead following a three-pointer by Greg Solyak with 12:30 remaining in the half.

From that point it was nip-and-tuck the remainder of the opening stanza. Nine lead changes and four ties saw neither team able to build more than a three-point lead. With the Monarchs holding on to a 38-37 advantage, Conroy scored and was fouled, converting the subsequent free throw to give King's a 41-37 lead with 2:01 on the clock. After a Wildcat turnover, Kyle Hammonds was fouled and made one-of-two charity tosses to up the score to 42-37 at the 1:25 mark. The Monarchs maintained  a five-point lead until Allen Reagan canned a short jumper with 0:09 left as Penn College trailed 44-41 at the break. In the first half the King's defense struggled, allowing the Wildcats to make good on 56.3 (18-32) percent of their shots from the field.

In the second half the Monarchs maintained a slim lead until Solyak scored on a driving lay-up to put the Wildcats on top 49-48 with 15:43 left in the contest. After the teams traded scores, Penn College took advantage of a Monarch miss and used a three-pointer from Leroy Joiner to give the Wildcats a 57-53 lead with 13:15 on the clock.  King's answered with a Hammonds trey two possessions later to bring the Monarchs to within 57-56.

After a Wildcat turnover, King's Joe Caffrey buried a deep three-pointer to give King's a 59-57 advantage. Penn College responded with a traditional three-point play by Joiner to assume a 60-59 lead, but Conroy made a pair of foul shots with 10:25 remaining to give the Monarchs a 61-60 advantage.

Neither team would score for the next two minutes of play but the Monarchs capitalized on a Wildcat turnover to build a 64-60 lead on another three-pointer by Caffrey with 8:18 to go. After another Penn College miss, Fiorino drained his fifth three-pointer of the day as the King's lead grew to 72-65 with 3:26 left in the contest.

After the Wildcats came to within 75-70 on a Jordan McBeth bucket, King's used two foul shots from Kyle Stackhouse and two more by Nick Reisig to up the score to seemingly comfortable 79-70 margin with 0:55 to play.

The Wildcats were hardly done, however, as Nico Italiani drained a three-pointer to cut the lead to 79-73. After Fiorino was fouled and made both free throws to push the lead to 81-73, Italiani made good on another shot from down town to bring the Wildcats to within 81-76 with 0:39 on the clock. After a Monarch turnover on the inbound pass, Italiani buried his third straight three-pointer in a span of 0:19 to cut the King's lead to 81-79 with 0:31 remaining.

King's failed to extend the lead on its next possession when Conroy was immediately fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one with 0:29 to go. Penn College had a chance to take the lead but Italiani's attempt at a fourth straight three-pointer bounced off the front of the rim. Hammonds corralled the rebound for King's and went to the foul line with 0:11 left in the contest. The Monarch rookie calmly made both shots to stretch the score to 83-79. Italiani would attempt one more three-pointer which fell off the mark with 0:03 to go and Hammonds snared the missed shot to end the contest.

Conroy led King's with 25 points, going 7-of-12 from the field and 11-of-26 from the foul line. Fiorino, who tallied a career-high 22-points, made good on 6-of-9 from three-point range. Hammonds and Caffrey added 11 points each while Stackhouse was the fifth scorer in double-figures with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Italiani led the Wildcats with 22 points while Joiner followed with 19 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Solyak added 15 points while Kaylor chipped in with 11.

King's returns to Freedom Conference play on Saturday when the Monarchs travel to Purchase, NY for a 3:00 p.m contest against Manhattanville College.
 
 
KING'S COLLEGE 83, PENN COLLEGE 79
PENN COLLEGE (6-9)
ITALIANI, Nico 7-14 2-2 22; JOINER, Leroy 8-18 2-3 19; SOLYAK, Greg 6-12 0-0 15; KAYLOR, Phillip 5-11 1-1 11; RAINIER, Harold 2-4 0-0 4; REGAN, Allen 2-4  0-0 4; MCBETH, Jordan 1-1 0-0 2; KLINE, Ethan 1-3 0-0 2; DECKER, Wyatt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-67 5-6 79.

KING'S COLLEGE (11-7)
Kevin Conroy 7-12 11-16 25; Matt Fiorino 7-10 2-3 22; Joe Caffrey 4-8 0-0 11; Kyle Hammonds 3-14 3-4 11; Kyle Stackhouse 4-8 2-4 10; Nick Reisig 1-4  2-2 4; Ian Oakley 0-2 0-0 0; Adam Brasky 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 20-29 83.

Penn College..................   41   38  -   79
King's College................   44   39  -   83

3-point goals--Penn College 10-22 (ITALIANI, Nico 6-11; SOLYAK, Greg 3-5; JOINER, Leroy 1-4; REGAN, Allen 0-1; KLINE, Ethan 0-1), King's College 11-28  (Matt Fiorino 6-9; Joe Caffrey 3-6; Kyle Hammonds 2-11; Adam Brasky 0-1; Nick Reisig 0-1). Fouled out--Penn College-SOLYAK, Greg; KLINE, Ethan,  King's College-None. Rebounds--Penn College 39 (JOINER, Leroy 16), King's College 37 (Kyle Stackhouse 7). Assists--Penn College 21 (KAYLOR, Phillip  7), King's College 21 (Kyle Hammonds 5). Total fouls--Penn College 23, King's College 11. Technical fouls--Penn College-None, King's College-None.  A-175
 
 
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