KING'S BASKETBALL TEAMS TRAVEL TO DELAWARE VALLEY WEDNESDAY AS FREEDOM PLAYOFF RACES HEAT UP, VIEW LIVESTATS
WILKES-BARRE – As the calendar turns to February, the King's College men's and women's basketball teams see themselves in the middle of heated playoff races with four games remaining on their Freedom Conference schedules. On Wednesday both King's squads will continue their push for playoff seeding with a trip to Doylestown, Pa. for a Freedom doubleheader with Delaware Valley. The women's game is set for 6:00 p.m. with the men's contest to follow at 8:00 p.m.
LiveStats will be utilized for both games at the following links:
Women's game: http://sidearmstats.com/delval/wbball/index.htm
Men's game: http://www.sidearmstats.com/delval/mbball/index.htm
The Lady Monarchs (13-8) are tied atop the Freedom Conference with DeSales and Misericordia at 7-3 after posting a 71-55 victory over FDU-Florham on Saturday. Sophomore guard Celia Rader tops the squad averaging 13.7 points (8th in Freedom) shooting a conference-high 37.9 percent (50-132) from three-point range. Junior forward Paige Carlin follows with 11.0 points and 4.8 rebounds, while sophomore guard Katlin Michaels adds 9.4 points and 5.2 rebounds. Junior point-guard Brittany Muscatell runs the offense averaging 7.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Muscatell poured in a career-best 19 points in the win over the Devils Saturday. King's averages 66.3 points per-game, while allowing 63.4 points each contest.
The Delaware Valley women's team enters the game with a 9-12 overall record, 3-7 in conference games. The Aggies dropped a 70-61 decision against DeSales University on Saturday. Sophomore forward Emily Soper leads the offense averaging 14.2 points (7th in Freedom) and 7.8 rebounds. Senior guard Brittany Battinieri follows with 13.3 points on 57 three-pointers. Junior forward Jackie Shunkwiler rounds out the double figure scorers averaging 12.3 points and 7.7 rebounds. The Aggies average 63.0 points per-game, while yielding 67.2 points each tilt.
King's posted a 61-47 win in Wilkes-Barre on January 12th in the teams' first meeting this year.
The Monarchs (13-8) stand in sole possession of fifth place in the crowded Freedom standings at 5-5, but just two games separate first place from fifth with four games left to play. King's will play its last four contests against the top four teams in the league. Senior forward Kevin Conroy has led the Monarch attack all season averaging 18.0 points (4th in Freedom) and 5.8 rebounds. The Chatham, N.J. native stands tenth all-time on the schools scoring list with 1,325 points, needing just 29 points to move into ninth place passing Jamie Cousart (1,354 points). Freshman guard Kyle Hammonds follows with 13.4 points and 5.1 rebounds, connecting on 45 three-pointers. Sophomore sharpshooter Matt Fiorino posts 10.8 points and a conference-best 49.1 percent (52-106) from behind the arc. Fiorino has come on strong lately, averaging 18.8 points and shooting 65.7 percent (23-35) from long distance in the past five games. Junior point-guard Kyle Stackhouse runs the show averaging 8.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists. King's averages 75.5 points per-game, while allowing 68.6 points each contest.
The Delaware Valley men's team, winners of six of their last nine games, enter the contest with a 12-9 overall mark and stand 6-4 in league play. The Aggies suffered an 83-73 loss against DeSales on Sunday dropping them to second place in the conference standings with both Misericordia and Wilkes. Senior guard James Jones, the conference's leading scorer, leads a balanced scoring attack with 19.6 points and 4.0 rebounds. Sophomore forward Jeremy Beckett follows with 16.8 points (5th in Freedom) and a conference-high 11.1 rebounds. Freshman guard Jason Goldheimer adds 10.1 points on 53 treys, while senior backcourt mate Chris Ellis contributes 10.0 points and 5.2 rebounds. The Aggies average 74.4 points per-game, while yielding 73.9 points each contest.
King's held on for an 80-74 victory in Wilkes-Barre on January 12th in the teams' first meeting of the year.
Following the games, both King's squads continue their final road stretch Saturday with a trip to Center Valley, Pa. for a doubleheader matchup with Freedom rival DeSales University. Women's game will tip-off at 1:00 p.m. with the men's tilt to follow at 3:00 p.m.
