DECEMBER 9, 2015

KING'S MEN'S BASKETBALL HOSTING ANNUAL FNCB/MONARCH CLASSIC FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

Directions to King's    l    Hotel & Restaurant Info

WILKES-BARRE --  The King's College men's basketball team will compete for the final time this semester on Friday and Saturday when the Red and Gold hosts the 16th annual First National Community Bank/Monarch Classic in Scandlon Gymnasium.

Fans unable to attend cal follow all the games on the Internet at the links below.

Live Video:  http://livestream.com/kingscollege

LiveStats:   http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/mbball/

Media Game Notes (King's)

The event opens Friday at 6:00 p.m. with Susquehanna University playing Trinity College of Connecticut. At 8:00 p.m, King's will square off with The Apprentice School of Virginia.  On Saturday, the consolation is set for 1:00 p.m. with the championship ams slated for 3:00 p.m.

The event returns to a true championship format this season after the past three tournaments were played in a round-robin format where no champion was crowned.  King's has won seven Monarch Classic titles, the last coming during the 2010-11 season. Susquehanna, which is making its fifth straight appearance in the Monarch Classic, has won the event on three occasions, the last coming in the 2011-012 season.

King's sports a 6-3 overall record after registering a 81-71 victory over FDU-Florham in its last game on Saturday.  The Apprentice School comes into the tournament with a 4-4 record after a 110-106 loss to University of the District of Columbia on Saturday

Trinity enters the game ranked sixth nationally by D3hoops.com with a 4-2 record but the Bantams, however, come off a 57-49 road loss to Eastern Connecticut State on Tuesday. Susquehanna, meanwhile, boasts the top record of the tournament teams with a 7-0 mark after a 64-61 victory over the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday.  The Crusaders also have to their credit a 92-60 win over King's in the finals of the Susquehanna/Pepsi Tip-Off Tournament on November 21.

King's is led by junior 6-foot-5 forward Dan Rutecki who tops the squad with a 12.1 points per-game average while adding 7.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per-game.  Senior 6-foot5 center Tom Heston follows with 11.0 points and team-highs of 8.8 rebounds and 17 steals.  Junior 6-foot-2 guard guard John Fazzini adds 10.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 11 three-pointers while freshman 6-foot-1 guard Jake Barber tallies 9.7 points and 2.8 boards. Junior 6-foot guard Nate Oliver contributes 9.1 points with a team-high 15 three-pointers while sophomore 6-foot-4 small forward Chris Fazzini checks in with 7.3 points and 2.2 rebounds. Senior 6-foot-2 point-guard Connor Hughes nets 4.6 points with 2.7 rebounds while junior 6-foot-4 forward John Dini chips in with 4.1 points and 2.4 boards. King's averages 74.1 pouts per-game while allowing 66.3 each contest.

The Apprentice School is paced by 6-foot-4 senior forward Jay Melendez with 19.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per-game while hitting on 17 three-pointers. Junior 6-foot-5 forward Zach Johnson follows with 16.3 points and 9.6 rebounds while senior 6-foot guard Cameron Perry adds 13.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Freshman 6-foot-5 forward William Wilcox contributes 9.8 points and 4.4 rebounds with 13 three-pointers while freshen 6-foot-3 guard Christian Cooper chips in with 7.4 points with 16 three-pointers.  The Builders are averaging 803 points per-game while yielding 82.4.

Trinity has been guided thus far by junior 6-foot-6 center-forward Ed Ogundeko who averages 13.0 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per-game. Senior 5-foot-9 guard Jaquann Starks follows with 12.0 points and 3.3 rebounds with 13 three-pointers.  Senior 6-foot-6 forward Shay Ajayi adds 9.8 points and 8.0 rebounds while 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Eric Gendron contributes 7.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. Junior 6-foot-4 small forward Chris Turnbull checks in with 6.8 points and 5.0 rebounds while senior 6-foot-3 guard Rick Naylor chips in with 5.7 points and 2.3 assists. The Bantams average 71.7 points per-game while allowing 59.7,

Susquehanna is led by 6-foot-4 senior guard Josh Miller with 17.0 points and 7.6 rebounds with 11 three-pointers.  Junior 6-foot-1 guard Steve Weidlich follows with 16.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists with 15 three-pointers. Junior 6-foot-6 forward Dan Weiss adds 15.1 points with 7.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists while senior 5-foot-10 guard Brandon Hedley contributes 13.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists with 19 three-pointers.  Freshman 5-foot-10 guard Tyler Hoagland has netted 6.6 points and 4.1 assists while junior 6-foot guard Dalton Reichard posts 4.7 points and 3.1 assists. Sophomore 6-foot-7 center Ryan Traub chips in with 4.4 points and 3.1 boards. The Crusaders average a tournament-high 85.3 points while yielding 71.6 each contest.


Past Monarch Classic Winners
2000-01:  King's
2001-02:  Elizabethtown
2002-03:  King's
2003-04:  King's
2004-05:  King's
2005-06:  King's
2006-07:  Round Robin format (no tourney winner)
2007-08:  Hood
2008-09:  King's
2009-10:  Susquehanna
2010-11:  King's
2011-12:  Susquehanna
2012-13:  Round Robin format (no tourney winner)
2013-14:  Round Robin format (no tourney winner)
2014-15:  Round Robin format (no tourney winner)