FEBRUARY 11, 2015

KING'S MEN' BASKETBALL DOWNS EASTERN, MOVES INTO SOLE POSSESSION OF 4TH IN FREEDOM CONFERENCE

WILKES-BARRE — The King's College men's basketball team placed four players in double-figures and overcame 13 three-pointers from visiting Eastern University as the Monarchs posted an important 80-74 Freedom Conference victory Wednesday night in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win, King's improved to 13-9 overall and 6-5 in conference play. The win also enabled King's to move into sole possession of the fourth and final Freedom Conference playoff berth.  KIng's entered the day locked in a thee-way tie with Eastern and Wilkes. The Colonels lost their game at DeSales and join Eastern at 5-6 in league contests.

The Monarchs took control early, bullring a seven point lead with 8:19 left in the first half after a driving lay-up from Dan Rutecki. After Eastern cut the lead to 19-14, the Monarchs used a 4-0 spurt to stretch the lead to 23-14 following an inside bucket from Tim O'Shea. The Eagles would eventually take a 28-27 after an Austin James lay-up with 2:32 on the clock but the Monarchs closed out he half with a 7-2 run to take a 34-30 lead into the halftime break.

In the second half King's came out of the locker room and used a 13-3 run to forge ahead 47-33 after five straight points from John Fazzini and baskets from Rutecki and Chris Fazzini. But Eastern hung around and eventually cut the lead to 52-51 after a James three-pointer with  10:11 to go.

The Monarchs answered with a 16-6 run of its own to push the lead to 68-57 at 5:13 on the clock. But the Eagles again battled back again, using its three-point shooting to cut the Monarchs lead to 77-74 with 0:26 to go. But the Monarchs sealed the win at the foul line, hitting on three-of-six charity tosses to set the final score at 80-74.

It was a much needed win for the Monarchs who had lost to Eastern in the first meeting between the teams 66-63 in overtime back on January 17. A loss to the Eagles would have given Eastern a series sweep over KIng's and provided the Eagles with a tie-breaker advantage over the Monarchs.

Chris Fazzini led King's with 20 points and four assists while Rutecki followed with 16 points and two boards. John Fazzini tallied 14 points, three rebounds, and two assists while Tom Heston contributed 11 points and seven boards.  Rich Douglas chipped in with four points, three assists and a career-high 11 rebounds from his point-guard position.

Eastern was led by Austin Carroll with 15 points and four rebounds while Shaquan Turk followed with 14 points and six boards. Austin James chipped in with 11 points and there assists.

Eastern made 13-of-32 attempts from three-point range on the day while King's was 3-of-5. The Monarchs, however, were able to dominate the boards by a 46-23 count to limit second chance points by the Eagles.

King's returns to the court Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. home matchup against Misericordia University in Scandlon Gym.