NOVEMBER 17, 2012

KING'S MEN'S BASKETBALL EDGES SUSQUEHANNA FOR TOURNEY TITLE

SELINSGROVE -- The King's College men's basketball team forged a nine-point lead with four minutes left in the game and held of a late rally to defeat Susquehanna University 44-43 in the finals of the Pepsi Tip-Off Tournament Saturday in Selinsgrove.

In the first half the Monarchs jumped out to leads of 6-0 and 9-2. Later in the half with King's holding a 18-13 advantage, the Monarchs used a 4-0 surge to stretch the lead to 22-13 after four straight points by Tom Heston with 3:37 left in the opening stanza. Susquehanna, however, closed out the half with a 10-1 run to tie the score at 23-23 at the break.

In the second half the Monarchs slowly extended the lead and used five straight points from Fiorino to build a 33-24 advantage with 14:15 left in the contest.

After the Crusaders closed to within 35-32 with 8:25 to play, King's countered 43-34 with 4:16 on the clock after a dunk by Tim O'Shea.

Susquehanna, though used a 9-1 run to cut the lead to 44-32 on a traditional three-point play from Tony Seldon with 0:53 on the clock. Fiorino would miss a three pointer with 0:30 left and Seldon rebounded as the Crusaders called a time-out with 0:15 to play.

From there, Susquehanna's J.T. Wilson missed a jumper, but the ball caromed out of bounds off a King's player, giving the Crusaders one last chance with 0:06 remaining.

Susquehanna called on Wilson again but a short jumper fell off the mark as the Monarchs held on for the victory.

O'Shea led King's with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting while Heston added nine points and six rebounds. Fiorino, who earned tournament most valuable player honors, finished with eight points while Hammonds, an all-tournament selection, tallied five points and four boards.

For Susquehanna, Tre Dean was the lone double-figure scorer with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Wilson and Seldon finished with nine and six points respectively.

King's returns to action Tuesday when the Monarchs make their home debut against Albright College at 7:00 p.m. in the newly renovated Scandlon Gymnasium.

All-Tournament Team:
Penn College: Jesse Newman
Montclair St.: James D'Angelo
Susquehanna: Tre Dean, J.T. Wilson
King's: Matt Fiorino (MVP), Kyle Hammonds