King's College Men's Basketball Hosts Monarch Classic Saturday & Sunday
Wilkes-Barre, Pa. -- The King's College men's basketball team will host the Monarch Classic Saturday and Sunday at Scandlon Gymnasium. Due to the anticipated snow arriving in the area on Saturday, the day-one game-times have been changed.
Originally, the tournament was set to open on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. with Wilkes taking on Berkeley and King's hosting Susquehanna at 8:00 p.m. But due to the expected weather, the schedule has been altered and King's will face Susquehanna in the first game at 2:00 p.m. with Wilkes playing Berkeley at 4:00 p.m.
The Sunday schedule will remain the same Wilkes taking on Susquehanna at 1:00 p.m. followed by King's facing Berkeley at 3:00 p.m.
Ticket prices are $4 for adults and $2 for students. King's students and employees will be admitted for free with presentation of King's ID. Directions to Scandlon Gymnasium can be found
HERE.
Fans that can't make the game can follow all games on LiveStats at:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/mbball
King's and Susquehanna will square off for the second time this season. The teams previously met in the finals of Susquehanna's Pepsi/Weis Tip-Off Tournament on November 23 with the Monarchs walking away with a 73-69 victory. King's coach J.P. Andrejko is gunning for his 200th career win at King's and will reach the milestone with a win Saturday or Sunday. Ironically, Andrejko secured his 199th win in the first meeting with Susquehanna. But after three straight losses, Andrejko is in position to secure his 200th triumph on Saturday against the Crusaders.
King's now stands at 4-3 overall after dropping a 74-70 decision to FDU-Florham last Saturday. The Monarch offense produces 74.4 points per game while holding opponents to 67.0. Senior guard
Kyle Hammonds leads the way for King's with 17.1 points per game. Hammonds is also grabbing 5.7 rebounds per contest and is connecting on 41.2% of his 3-point attempts. Fellow senior
Joe Caffrey chips in 11.3 points per game as well as leading the team with an average of 3.6 assists per contest. Freshman
Dan Rutecki has played well off the bench in the front court with 7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. King's has out rebounded opponents 305-248 on the year.
The Crusaders currently 3-3 overall after falling 82-68 to Scranton last Saturday. Susquehanna averages 78.3 points per game while allowing 74.2. Steven Weidlich leads the way offensively for the Crusaders averaging 16.2 points per game while grabbing 5.3 rebounds and dishing out 3.1 assists per contest. Brandon Headley chips in 15.7 points and has recorded a team leading 6.5 helpers per outing. Harley Sellinger is Susquehanna's leading rebounder with 8.8 boards per game to go with 10.2 points per contest. Jake Eskin adds 7.5 points and 4.2 boards per game.
Wilkes brings a 4-3 overall record into today's opening game of the Monarch classic after falling 75-71 at DeSales on Saturday. Through seven games the Colonel offense is averaging 75.0 points per game while allowing 71.7. Alec Wizar paces the Wilkes offense with 17.1 points per game to go with 3.4 boards. Pat Furst notches 15.0 points and a team-leading 6.1 rebounds per contest. Nic Wilkins has provided a spark off the bench with 8.7 points and 4.4 boards per game. Cameron Hinkel has triggered the Wilkes offense with a team-leading 22 assists as well as 8.6 points per game.
Berkeley enters tonight's game with a 5-2 overall record after dropping a 105-96 decision to St. Joseph's (VT) on Sunday. The Knight offense is producing 78.4 points per contest while allowing opponents 73.6. Keenan Langston leads the way for Berkeley with 20.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Danzel Whyte is just shy of a season double double with 12.8 points and 9.6 boards. Richard Rampersad is the third Knight in double figure scoring with 10.0 points per outing. Elijah Craig is the leading rebounder for Berekely pulling down 9.7 rebounds per game.
