MONARCH CAGERS POST 98-94 WIN OVER WILKES IN SEASON FINALE; CONROY POURS IN 33 POINTS IN FINAL CONTEST
WILKES-BARRE – Senior forward Kevin Conroy scored a game-high 33 points in the final game of his career to lead King's College to a 98-94 season finale win over cross-town rival Wilkes University Saturday afternoon in Scandlon Gymnasium.
King's ends the 2010-2011 season with a 15-10 overall record, finishing 7-7 in league play. The Monarchs fell one game short of a playoff spot in next week's Freedom Conference tournament. Wilkes drops to 15-9 overall and 8-6 in conference games and will now await word on seeding for next week's tourney.
The game proved to be a tide of halves as the host Monarchs came out on fire to open the contest. Three three-pointers from Kyle Hammonds and two inside scores from Conroy gave King's a 21-13 advantage with 12:37 left in the half. The lead grew to 36-26 following a Joe Caffrey trey five minutes later.
After two made free throws from Conroy, Matt Fiorino dialed home a deep three-pointer to give the Monarchs a 45-30 lead with just over two miutes to go to the half. Following a Wilkes' miss, King's went inside to Conroy again and the senior delivered with a left-handed hook to give the hosts their largest lead of the half, 47-30. A layup from Caffrey and another score from Conroy sent the Monarchs to the break up 51-33.
King's didn't let its foot off the gas to start the second frame hitting three straight triples to take a 61-38 lead with 17:04 left. Three minutes later, a Conroy bucket in the paint gave King's their largest advantage of the contest, 68-40. From there, Wilkes began to chip away at the decisive advantage. A 20-6 run capped off by a Chris DeRojas driving layup cut the lead to 14 points, 74-60 with 8:44 on the clock.
King's went back inside to Conroy for two scores and a successful trip to the foul line to keep the momentum on the hosts side up 81-65 with 4:42 on the clock. Another jumper from DeRojas and a trey from Tyler Breznitsky kept the Colonels within striking distance, but King's answered down the stretch going 16-for-18 from the charity stripe to seal the win.
Conroy was nearly unstoppable in the contest scoring at will throughout despite double and triple teams before fouling out late. He went 11-for-20 from the floor and 11-for-15 from the free throw line and added four rebounds and three assists. Hammonds finished with 16 points, three rebounds, and four assists to wrap up a solid freshman year. Fiorino added 15 points on 3-for-5 shooting from behind the arc. Caffrey contributed nine points, while Kyle Stackhouse posted seven points, seven rebounds, and two helpers.
DeRojas, Breznitsky, and Kendall Hinze led the Colonels with 19 points each. Hinze added a team-high seven rebounds.
Conroy and fellow senior Adam Brasky (left) conclude their careers in the Red and Gold following the contest. Both were members of the 2007-2008 Freedom Conference Championship squad. Conroy capped-off an outstanding career, finishing seventh on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,437 points. He also owns school records for free throws made in a single-season (165) and free throws attempted in a career (711), as well as the most made free throws in a career with 473, previous held by Jeff Thomas (465) from 1989-92.
King's welcomes back four starters in 2011-2012 where the Monarchs will look to get back to the Freedom Conference Tournament.
KING'S COLLEGE 98, WILKES UNIVERSITY 94
WILKES UNIVERSITY (15-9,8-6 Freedom)
Chris DeRojas 8-16 2-3 19; Tyler Breznitsky 7-10 0-0 19; Kendall Hinze 7-9 5-8 19; Todd Eagles 6-9 1-1 13; Bernard Edmonds 3-5 1-3 7; Craig Thomas 2-4 0-0 5; Mike Boylan 1-2 0-0 3; Cliff Richardson 1-2 1-2 3; Matt Mullins 1-5 1-2 3; Paul Huch 1-10 0-0 2; Brendan Sheldon 0-2 1-2 1; Matt Boyle 0-0 0-0 0; Steve Blish 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 37-75 12-23 94.
KING'S COLLEGE (15-10,7-7Freedom)
Kevin Conroy 11-20 11-15 33; Kyle Hammonds 5-10 3-4 16; Matt Fiorino 4-7 4-4 15; Joe Caffrey 4-4 0-0 9; Kyle Stackhouse 2-7 3-4 7; Nick Reisig 0-2 6-6 6; Chris Hobson 2-3 1-2 5; Adam Brasky 1-4 1-2 4; Ian Oakley 0-1 3-4 3. Totals 29-58 32-41 98.
Wilkes University............. 33 61 - 94
King's College................ 51 47 - 98
3-point goals--Wilkes University 8-20 (Tyler Breznitsky 5-6; Mike Boylan 1-2; Craig Thomas 1-2; Chris DeRojas 1-3; Matt Mullins 0-3; Paul Huch 0-2; Steve Blish 0-1; Todd Eagles 0-1), King's College 8-16 (Kyle Hammonds 3-7; Matt Fiorino 3-5; Joe Caffrey 1-1; Adam Brasky 1-3). Fouled out--Wilkes University-Paul Huch, King's College-Kevin Conroy. Rebounds—Wilkes University 40 (Todd Eagles 7; Kendall Hinze 7), King's College 36 (Kyle Stackhouse 7; Nick Reisig 7). Assists--Wilkes University 13 (Matt Mullins 4), King's College 20 (Nick Reisig 4; Kyle Hammonds 4; Matt Fiorino 4). Total fouls--Wilkes University 25, King's College 20. Technical fouls--Wilkes University-None, King's College-None. A-1250 King's regular season finale
