Box Score
JANUARY 5, 2015

RUTECKI GAME WINNER WITH 0:04 LEFT PROPELS KING'S TO 56-55 VICTORY OVER MUHLENBERG

Watch Rutecki's Game-Winner Here

WILKES-BARRE — Dan Rutecki banked in the game-winning jump shot with 0:04 left in the contest as the King's College men's basketball team pulled out a 56-55 victory over visiting Muhlenberg College in a non-conference men's basketball matchup Monday night in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win King's improved to 7-5 on the year while Muhlenberg slipped to 6-5.

With the game tied 53-53 with 1:08 left, Rutecki canned a pair of foul shots to put the Monarchs on top 54-53.  After a Muhlenberg miss the Monarchs looked to add to their lead but Muhlenberg's Jon Shreer forced a critical tie-up under the Mule basket as the possession arrow favored Muhlenberg. From there Brandon LaRose scored on a driving lay-up with 0:36 to play to give the visitors a 55-54 lead.

Following a King's turnover with 0:09 on the clock the Monarchs were forced to foul and Mule center John Hunter gave King's life when he missed the front end of a one-and-one.   After a Monarch time-out, Rutecki received the ball just outside the foul line and his jump shot caromed off the backboard and through the rim for the game-winner.

Muhlenberg's subsequent pass to half-court was knocked away as the Monarchs walked away with the victory.

The teams played a closely contested but sloppy first half as the squads combined for 23 first half-turnovers as King's managed a 28-26 lead at the break.

In the second half Muhlenberg took a 31-30 lead with 18:32 to play on an Alec Stavetski lay-up. The rest of the way the teams were tied on six occasions and changed leads five different times. Neither team led by more than four points over the final 16 minutes of the game.

Chris Fazzini led King's with 15 points and five rebounds while Rutecki, who was named Freedom Conference "Player of the Week" earlier in the day, finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Tom Heston contributed eight points and six boards while Connor Hughes came off the bench in the second half to score seven important points. Dan Borner tallied six points while John Fazzini chipped in with five points, four rebounds, and two  assists.

Muhlenberg was paced by Stavetski and LaRosa with 11 points each while the Monarchs held Mule leading scorer Malique Killing to 10 points well below his average of 17 points per-game.

KIng's will return to the court Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. matchup at Penn State Hazleton.