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DECEMBER 9, 2016

KING'S MEN'S CAGERS FALL TO GWYNEDD IN OPENING ROUND OF FNCB/MONARCH CLASSIC, SUSQUEHANNA DOWNS TRINITY TO REACH FINAL

WILKES-BARRE — The Gwynedd Mercy University men's basketball team built a 39-34 lead halftime lead and never relinquished its advantage as the visiting Griffins posted a 95-84 victory over host King's College in the opening round of the First National Community Bank Friday night in Scandlon Gymnasium.

Gwynedd Mercy, a 2016 NCAA national qualifier, improved to 5-1 with the victory while King's slipped to 4-3. In the other first-round pairing, Susquehanna University, ranked 23rd nationally in Division III, posted a 62-58 triumph over Trinity College. King's will face Trinity in the consolation game Saturday at 1:00 p.m. while Gwynedd-Mercy and Susquehanna will play for the tournament title at 3:00 p.m.  Fans can follow the games online at the links below:

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

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

WRKC Radio. 88.5 FM (King's games only):  http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html

King's lead early when a pair of Connor Callejas foul shots put the Monarchs ahead 4-2 with 16:46 to play in the first half. That was the last time the Monarchs would hold the lead.

The Griffins would go on a 24-10 run over the next 6:46 to build a 26-14 advantage with 10:00 on the clock after a three-pointer by Rich Dunham. The Monarchs outscored the Griffins 20-11 over the next nine minutes to close to within 37-34 with 1:09 left, but Gwynedd used a driving lay-up by Rip Engel at the buzzer to give the Griffins a 39-34 lead at the break.

In the second half Gwynedd Mercy came out of the locker room and slowly built a nine-point advantage when Courtney Cubbage scored a lay-up to push the Griffin lead to 57-48 with 14:45 remaining. The Monarchs chipped away and closed to within 77-73 with 6:27 to play after back-to-back three-pointers by Tyler Millan and Joshua Bailey. But Gwynedd-Mercy used nine straight points by Engel to push the score to 92-80 with 2:02 on the clock. King's would come no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Dan Rutecki led King's with 23 points and four rebounds while Tyler Millan scored 16 points while going 4-of-4 from three-point range. Joshua Bailey added 12 points while Connor Callejas chipped in with 10 for the Monarchs.

Gwynedd was paced by Aaron Goodman with 20 points while Cedric Ellerby and Courtney Cubbage added 17 points apiece. Engel added 14 while Dunham contributed 11.

Both teams shot well from the field with King's making 57.7 (30-52) percent of its shots but the Monarchs made only 36.8 (7-19) from three-point range. The Griffins made 54.0 (34-63) percent of its shots and connected on 52.9 (9-17) of its three-pointers. King's hurt itself with 21 turnovers in the game.



SUSQUEHANNA DOWNS TRINITY 62-58 IN MONARCH TOURNEY OPENER

WILKES-BARRE — Defending tournament champion Susquehanna University used a late 10-6 surge to break open a tie game en route to posting a 62-58 victory over Trinity College of Connecticut in the first game of the FNCB/Monarch Classic Friday night in Scandlon Gym.

With the win, Susquehanna improved to 6-1 while Trinity slipped to 4-4. Both teams were 2016 NCAA Division III national tournament qualifiers.

With the game tied 50-50 with 7:55 remaining, Trinity forged ahead on a Jeremy Arthur layup with 6:09 to play. But Susquehanna tied the game on a driving lay-up by Jeremy Hoagland with 4:09 on the clock.

After a Trinity miss, the River Hawks got a three-pointer from Jason Dietrich at the 3:24 mark and another from Steven Weidlich to put Susquehanna on top 58-52 with 2:42 remaining.  Trinity would close to within 59-58 on a driving bucket from Eric Grendon with 0:32 left but Hoagland hit on one-of-two foul shots to give the River Hawks a 60-58 led with 0:20 to play. With a chance to tie the game or take the lead, Trinity was whistled for an offensive foul and was forced to immediately foul with 0:06 to go. Hoagland made both shots to up the lead to 62-58 to seal the victory.

Hoagland led Susquehanna with 18 points and was 10-of-12 from the foul line. Ryan Traub added 17 points and five boards. Weidlich, who entered the game averaging 23.5 points, was held to six points on the day.

Trinity was led by Jeremy Arthur with 10 points while Ed Ogundeko followed with seven points and 10 boards. Ogundenko, who averaged 18.7 points entering the game, needed eight points to reach the 1,000-point plateau, falling just one short of the milestone.

Susquehanna will play for the tournament championship Saturday at 3:00 p.m. against Gwynedd-Mercy while Trinity meets King's in the 1:00 p.m. consolation game.