Box Score

Hammonds and Caffrey Combine for 49 Points in Win Over Eastern

Wilkes-Barre, Pa. – Senior guard Kyle Hammonds piled up 30 points to help the King's College men's basketball team to 74-61 victory over visiting Eastern Saturday afternoon in Freedom Conference play at Scandlon Gymnasium.

The Monarchs improved to 9-6 on the year and leveled their Freedom Conference mark at 2-2 while the Eagles fall to 7-8 overall and 1-3 in league play.

Eastern came out of the gates fast scoring jumping out to a 5-0 lead, before the Monarchs went on a 9-3 spurt to take a 9-8 advantage. Christian Skrepenak extended the King's lead with a layup and the Eagles tied the game, 11-11, on a Caleb Knudsen trey. The Monarchs went on a 17-10 run capped by a Hammonds 3-pointer with 6:41 to play in the first half to give King's a 28-21 edge.

The Eagles battled back using six points from Shaquan Turk and a Malcolm Garrison 3-pointer to cut the lead down to three, 31-28 with 4:51 left in the first. The Monarchs got a pair of free throws from Joe Caffrey and a Dan Rutecki layup to push the lead back to 35-28. After a pair of Jordan Diggs free throws King's finished out the half on a 10-6 run to close out the half capped by a Kyle Hammonds 3-pointer with just one second on the clock.

The teams traded baskets at the open of the second half before the Monarchs opened up the lead when Eastern's Garrison picked up a foul under the basket and then was whistled for a technical. Caffrey hit the technical free throws then Rutecki netted a layup off the in-bounds pass to give King's a 51-39 lead.

King's lead swelled to as much as 15, 57-42, with 13:13 on the clock when Eastern made its push using a 13-4 run capped by a Willis free throw to get as close as 61-55 with 6:27 to play. The Monarch buckled down and finished the game with a 13-6 spurt of their own keyed by five points from Hammonds to set the final at 74-61.

In addition to his 30 points Hammonds grabbed four rebounds. Caffrey had a strong all-around game with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. Rutecki was the third Monarch in double figure scoring with 10 points, nine boards and five helpers. Skrepenak added eight points and eight rebounds as well as four blocks.

Eastern had four players in double figure scoring paced by 18 points from Turk. Knudsen tallied a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Willis and Diggs chipped in 10 points each.

The Monarchs are back in action on Wednesday when they host crosstown rival Wilkes as part of a women's/men's doubleheader with the women tipping a 6:00 p.m. and the men following at 8:00 p.m.