MONARCHS LATE RALLY FALLS SHORT IN 86-81 LOSS AGAINST MISERICORDIA
WILKES-BARRE – Senior Robbie Johnson poured in 25 points to lead three Cougars in double figures as visiting Misericordia University posted an 86-81 Freedom victory over King's College Tuesday night in Scandlon Gymnasium. The loss marks the sixth time the Monarchs have dropped a conference game by five points or less.
With the loss King's drops to 14-10 overall and 6-7 in Freedom play. The Monarchs are eliminated from playoff contention following the defeat as both Wilkes and Delaware Valley notched victories on Tuesday. Misericordia improves to 15-9 overall and 8-5 in league play, and are now in a three-way tie for second place with Wilkes and Delaware Valley.
Misericordia jumped out to an early 20-10 lead following a Johnson three-pointer in transition with 12:35 on the clock. The Cougar lead grew to 17 points at 27-10 as Ethan Eichhorst and Chris Undersinger capped off a 7-0 run with back-to-back scores. King's responded with a 16-8 run over the next seven minutes of play to cut the deficit to 35-29 with a Kevin Conroy inside bucket. Misericordia finished the half scoring twice form the charity stripe and another Eichhorst jumper to take a 41-28 advantage to the break.
The Misericordia lead stayed in double figures through the first ten minutes of the second frame before the Monarchs began their furious rally. Down by 11 points, King's got scores from Conroy, Kyle Hammonds, and Nick Reisig to cut the lead to 62-57 with 8:39 remaining. Following a Cougar miscue, Kyle Stackhouse connect on a short jumper followed by two Conroy free tosses to edge King's to within three, 66-63.
Johnson would answer for Misericordia with two straight driving scores to keep the Cougars in front 78-71 with 2:18 left. From there, Hammonds drilled two treys on consecutive possessions to cut the lead to four, 81-77. Stackhouse inched King's to within two, 83-81, with two from the charity stripe with :16 remaining. King's was forced to foul and sent Sean Bieski to the line for two. Bieski made one of two free throws as Misericordia led 84-81 with :15 left. King's had one last chance to tie the game, but a Stackhouse jumper fell short and into the hands of Eichhorst where he iced the game with two free throws down the other end.
The loss overshadowed a strong performance from Conroy who finished with a game-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field. The senior added five rebounds in 35 minutes of action. Matt Fiorino posted 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting from behind the arc. Stackhouse added 14 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, while Hammonds rounded-out the double figures scorers with 12 points. The Monarchs shot 48.4 percent from the floor, but managed just 28.6 percent from long range.
Johnson added six rebounds and seven assists to his team-high 25 tallies in the win. Eichhorst finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Jeff Slanovec added 15 points including two treys. Misericordia shot 50.0 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from behind the arc throughout.
King's will conclude its regular season with a cross-town rivalry matchup with Wilkes University on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in Scandlon Gymnasium. Seniors Kevin Conroy and Adam Brasky will be honored prior to the contest.
MISERICORDIA 86, KING'S COLLEGE 81
MISERICORDIA (15-9, 8-5Freedom)
Robbie Johnson 10-17 4-6 25; Ethan Eichhorst 8-15 5-5 21; Jeff Slanovec 5-10 3-4 15; Matt Greene 3-8 0-0 9; Sean Bieski 3-7 1-2 7; Frank Nutt 1-4 1-2 4; Chris Undersinger 1-1 0-0 3; Scott Huddle 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 32-64 14-19 86.
KING'S COLLEGE (14-10,6-7Freedom)
Kevin Conroy 11-16 6-11 28; Matt Fiorino 6-10 2-2 18; Kyle Stackhouse 6-11 2-2 14; Kyle Hammonds 4-13 2-2 12; Nick Reisig 2-6 1-1 5; Joe Caffrey 0-1 2-2 2; Adam Brasky 1-4 0-0 2; Ian Oakley 0-1 0-0 0; Chris Hobson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-62 15-20 81.
Misericordia.................. 41 45 - 86
King's College................ 28 53 - 81
3-point goals--Misericordia 8-20 (Matt Greene 3-6; Jeff Slanovec 2-5; Robbie Johnson 1-4; Frank Nutt 1-4; Chris Undersinger 1-1), King's College 6-21 (Matt Fiorino 4-7; Kyle Hammonds 2-7; Nick Reisig 0-3; Joe Caffrey 0-1; Adam Brasky 0-2; Kyle Stackhouse 0-1). Fouled out--Misericordia-Robbie Johnson, King's College-Nick Reisig. Rebounds--Misericordia 34 (Ethan Eichhorst 10), King's College 37 (Nick Reisig 12). Assists--Misericordia 16 (Robbie Johnson 7), King's College 19 (Kyle Stackhouse 7). Total fouls--Misericordia 14, King's College 21. Technical fouls--Misericordia-Sean Bieski, King's College-Ian Oakley. A-875
