John Fazzini
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John Fazzini scored 22 points as King's went on the road to defeat Manhattanville

King's Men's Basketball Earns 78-72 Conference Road Victory over Manhattanville

2/7/2015 5:44:00 PM

Box Score  
FEBRUARY 7, 2015

KING'S MEN PICK UP IMPORTANT 78-72 CONFERENCE ROAD WIN OVER MANHATTANVILLE 

PURCHASE, NY -- The King's College men's basketball team overcame a overcame a 60-59 deficit with 8:42 remaining by outscoring host Manhattanville College 19-12 the rest of the way as the Monarchs earned an important 78-72 Freedom Conference victory Saturday in Purchase, NY.

With the win King's improved to 12-9 overall and 5-5 in league play while Manhattanville fell to 6-15 and 2-8.

The Monarchs fell behind early 17-11 after Charles Nardone made all three free throws after being fouls attempting a three-pointer, then added a driving lay-up with 13:53 left in the opening half.

The Valiants maintained a seven-point lead after Timmy McCauley hot a three-pointer with 3:22 on the clock. But King's got untracked when Dan Rutecki made two foul shots, John Fazzini hit a short jumper, Connor Hughes broke free for a driving lay-up, and Tanner Rayen made one-of-two foul shots to tie the game at 34-34 with 1:30 remaining in the opening stanza. 

After the teams traded misses, Rutecki scored inside to put the Monarchs on top 36-34, but Manhattanville used a lay-up from Juan Camacho with 0:06 on the clock to send the teams into the locker room deadlocked at 36-36.

King's came out of the gates for the second half firing on all cylinders as the Monarchs went on a 12-0 run over the first 4:17 of the final frame.  Rutecki began the surge with a traditional three-point play before Chris Fazzini scored on a driving lay-up. After the teams traded misses Fazzini again scored on a drive to the basket, followed by a three-pointer by John Fazzini. After a Manhattanville turnover, John Fazzini added a driving lay-up of his own to give the Monarchs a 48-36 lead with 15:43 to play.

But Manhattanville refused to fold and countered with a 11-2 run of its own to trim the King's lead to 50-47 with 12:10 on the clock. The Valiants would eventually take a 53-52 lead with 10:55 left on a jumper by Darius Christmas. 

With Manhattanville maintaining a 60-59 lead after an inside bucket by Camacho, King's took the lead for good on its next possession. Tim O'Shea scored inside to put the Monarchs ahead 61-60 and Chris Fazzini followed with a driving lay-up to push the score to 63-60 at the 6:44 mark.  

After Camacho trimmed the score to 63-62 on an inside bucket with 5:59 on the clock the Monarchs responded with consecutive lay-ups from Chris and John Fazzini to stretch the lead to 67-62 with 3:20 to go. After the teams combined for four straight missed shots, the Monarchs forged a seven-point lead when John Fazzini canned two foul shots to push the score to 69-62 with 0:57 left.

Manhattanville whittled the lead down to three points on three occasions, the last coming with 0:13 left on a lay-up by Anthony Maestre.  But the Monarchs sealed the deal at the foul line when Rich Douglas made a pair of free throws with 0:11 on the clock and O'Shea converted one-of-two with 0:01 to play.

John Fazzini led  the Monarchs with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Rutecki followed with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Chris Fazzini added 12 points, three rebounds, and two steals. O'Shea continued his solid play off the bench to register 10 points and eight boards while Dan Borner chipped in with seven points, six rebounds, and two assists.

Camacho led all scorers with 27 points and five rebounds while Andrew Winter followed with 12 points and five assists. 

The win moved King's into a three-way tie for fourth-place in the league standings along with Wilkes and Eastern.

King's returns to the court Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. with a home Freedom Conference matchup against Eastern in Scandlon Gymnasium.
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