Nick Reisig
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Senior Nick Reisig scored seven points in his final career game as the Monarchs fell to Wilkes

King's Men's Cagers Fall in Season-Finale to Wilkes, 74-60

2/18/2012 5:07:00 PM

Box Score
FEBRUARY 18, 2012

KING'S CAGERS DROP SEASON-FINALE TO WILKES 74-60

WILKES-BARRE -- Host Wilkes University took advantage of a major size advantage to dominate inside as the host Colonels defeated cross-town King's College in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday in the Marts Center.

With the win Wilkes improved to 16-8 overall and wrapped up the second seed for next week's Freedom Conference Tournament with a 9-5 league mark. King's, meanwhile, failed to qualify for the post-season and ended its year with a 9-16 record and a 4-10 conference ledger.

The teams played a back-and-forth first half as the Monarchs held a 15-14 lead after a three-pointer from Tim O'Shea and a pair of foul shots by Kyle Stackhouse with 11:51 remaining in the opening stanza.

The Colonels, however, went on a 9-0 surge to take a 23-15 lead at the 8:28 mark following a lay-up by Tyler Breznitsky, one-of-two free throws from Brendan Sheldon, and four straight foul shots from Matt Mullins.
The Monarchs countered with a jumper by Kyle Hammonds, then two free throws from Stackhouse to cut the score to 23-19 at 7:36. The Monarchs later trimmed the lead to 27-24 after a three-pointer by O'Shea with 5:36 on the clock. But the Colonels responded with buckets by Betznitsky and Paul Huch to push the score to 31-24 with 2:29 on the clock.

After Stackhouse converted on a pair of foul shots to bring King's to within 31-27 with 1:31 remaining, Kendall Hinze scored down low for Wilkes with 0:06 to play as the Colonels took a 33-27 lead into the halftime break.

At the start of the second half Wilkes immediately built upon its lead thanks to four points from Hinze and one-of-two foul shots by Huch to stretch the Colonel advantage to 38-27 with 17:20 left in the contest.

Wilkes maintained a nine-point lead when the Monarchs trimmed the score to 47-36 on a lay-up by O'Shea with 13:47 to play. But the Colonels outscored King's 8-3 over the next 3:35 to build a 55-39 lead following another inside bucket by Hinze.

King's cut the lead to 11 points on three occasions, then finally managed to reduce the score to single digits when Joe Caffrey canned a pair of free throws with 6:33 left to bring the score to 59-50. After a Wilkes miss, King's continued to fight back and came to within 59-52 following a jumper by Matt Fiorino with 6:08 to go.

But Wilkes used its superior size advantage and pounded the ball inside to Hinze who was fouled on consecutive trips up the floor and made all four charity tosses to give the Colonels a 63-52 led with 5:11 remaining. After a King's miss, Mullins was fouled and converted one-of-two foul shots for a 64-52 Colonel advantage with 4:32 on the clock. On King's next possession, Hammonds was fouled and made the first of two attempts to bring the Monarchs to within 64-53 at the 4:25 mark.

After the teams traded misses the Monarchs were unable to cash in on an opportunity by turning the ball over and Wilkes capitalized when Huch scored down low to push the score to 66-53 with 3:25 to play. O'Shea was fouled and made one-of-two attempts as King's drew to within 66-54 at 3:14 but Wilkes' inside game was too strong as Hinze once again scored down low to up the score to 68-54 with 2:28 left.

Winder scored for the Monarchs to trim the lead to 68-56 but with King's forced to foul, Wilkes' Jordan Wilson canned two charity tosses to build the Colonel lead to 70-56 with 1:48 to play. O'Shea closed out the scoring for King's with a dunk with 0:35 to play as the Colonels walked away with the victory.

For King's, it marked the final game for senior captains Stackhouse, Nick Reisig, and Eric Brown. Stackhouse scored nine points with six rebounds and concluded his King's career with 847 points, 499 rebounds, and 361 assists. Reisig finished with seven points and two boards, wrapping up his Monarch career with 624 points and 399 boards. Brown went scoreless in the game and finished with 70 career points.

O'Shea paced King's with 12 points and eight rebounds while Winder added eight points and seven boards. Fiorino also netted eight points while Caffrey contributed six points and two rebounds. Ian Oakley and Hammonds chipped in with five points each.

Wilkes was led by its 6-foot-5 tandem of Hinze and Huch who were able to take advantage of their size advantage over King's undersized post players. Hinze led Wilkes with 20 points and 14 rebounds while Huck followed with 15 points and nine boards. Mullins and Wilson chipped in with 11 points each.

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