Women's Game Notes
Men's Game Notes

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

KING'S BASKETBALL TEAMS TRAVELING TO EASTERN FOR CRITICAL CONFERENCE TWIN BILL

WILKES-BARRE  --  With just three games left in the regular-season, the King's College women's and men's basketball teams are both scrambling  to remain in contention for Freedom Conference Tournament berths.  Both teams are currently on the outside looking in heading down the stretch but each squad remains mathematically in the race heading into the weekend. The women's and men's squads will have an opportunity to remain alive Saturday when both teams travel to face local rival Misericordia University. The women tip off the action at 1:00 p.m. with the men to follow at 3:00 p.m. in the Anderson Center.

Fans unable to attend can follow the games online at the following links:

Women's LiveStats:  http://www.sidearmstats.com/misericordia/wbball/

Men's LiveStats:  http://www.sidearmstats.com/misericordia/mbball/

Live Video (both games):  http://athletics.misericordia.edu/news/2015/9/8/SID_0908152605.aspx

WRKC Radio, 88.5 FM:  http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html

With the top-four teams qualifying for the Freedom Conference Tournament, the King's women are in sixth-place in the eight-team league.  The Lady Monarchs (11-11/4-7 Freedom) dug a deep hole after losing their last two games, a home overtime loss to Manhattanville on Saturday, and a 60-52 road loss to Eastern Wednesday night.  Misericordia, meanwhile, is already eliminated from playoff consideration at 6-16 and 2-9 in league play, but one of the Cougars' victories was a 62-61 win over King's on January 20 in a game King's led the entire contest until Misericordia scored the winning basket with 2.3 second remaining. Since that game King's has gone on to lose six of its last seven contests, all Freedom Conference defeats.

King's, which is there games behind fourth-place Delaware Valley and one behind fifth-place Eastern will need to win their final three games and then get help.  Delaware Valley, which travels to King's on Tuesday, must lose each of their final three games.  Aside from need three Delaware Valley losses, King's also needs Eastern to lose at least one of its final three games. Should King's and Eastern finish in a tie King's would likely pass the Eagles by virtue of the MAC tie breaking criteria based on its season series split with second-place FDU-Florham, which swept Eastern. But for King's, a Delaware Valley win at home over last-place Wilkes on Saturday would officially eliminate the Lady Monarchs.

On the men's side, King's (11-11/5-6 Freedom) stands alone in sixth-place, one game behind Manhattanville, Misericordia, and Wilkes who are all tied for third with identical 6-5 league records. King's will have the opportunity to gain ground as the Monarchs have games remaining against both Misericordia and Wilkes.

The Monarchs remained in the race after going on the road to pick up an important 86-77 victory over Eastern to secure a third straight league win. Misericordia (12-10/6-5) picked up a big road win with a 79-78 win over first-place Delaware Valley on Wednesday.

King's women are paced by senior forward Jennifer Fabian who averages 12.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per-game while making 20 three-pointers. Junior small-forward Kayla Feairheller follows with 10.6 points and 3.5 rebounds while converting 34 three-pointers. Senior forward Tara Zdancewicz adds 8.5 points and 4.6 rebounds while junior point-guard Kasey Seitz has tallied 6.4 points, 3.0 assists, and 3.1 rebounds with 27 three-pointers. Sophomore 6-foot-2 center Olivia Hoffman has averaged 6.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 83 blocked shots and needs four blocks to break King's single-season record of 86 set by former Lady Monarch all-American Heather Medashefski during the 1998-99 campaign.

Freshman guard Cayle Spencer has posted 4.3 points and 2.2 boards with 18 treys while senior point-guard Sara Krupinski has registered 3.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists.  Freshman forward Alexis Steeber chips in with 3.6 points and 2.6 rebounds while sophomore guard Rachael DeTore chips in with 3.5 points and 2.0 rebounds.  King's averages 61.5 points while allowing 60.1 each contest.

The Misericordia women are led by Justine Seeley who averages 16.2 points and 10.2 rebounds with 67 blocked shots. Rachel Carmody follows with 8.6 points and 6.5 rebounds with 16 three-pointers. Liz Waleski adds 8.3 points with 3.9 rebounds and 31 three-pointers while Japriya Carroll contributes 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds with 22 three-pointers. The Coigars average 59.6 points while yielding 65.8 each game.

King's is paced by junior forward Dan Rutecki who tops the squad with 14.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. Sophomore guard Chris Fazzini follows with 11.9 points and 3.6 rebounds with 12 three-pointers. Senior center Tom Heston adds 11.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while junior guard John Fazzini contributes 10.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 31 three-pointers.

Freshman guard Jake Barber has tallied 7.8 points with 2.2 rebounds while junior guard Nate Oliver has posted 7.5 points with 29 three-pointers. Senior guard Connor Hughes averages 6.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 17 three-pointers while junior forward John Dini has registered 3.4 points with 15 three-pointers. Junior post player Derek Wilkins chips in with 3.1 points and 2.7 rebounds.  King's has averaged 74.7 points per-game while yielding 71.8 each contest.

Misericordia is paced by Jason Kenny with 19.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists with 54 three-pointers. Griffin Sponaugle follows with 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists with 59 treys. Erik Kerns adds 10.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists with 19 three-pointers while 6-foot-10 center james Hawk chips in with 8.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 46 blocked shots.  The Cougars average 76.9 points while allowing 76.6 per-game.

After playing Misericordia, King's will play its final home game of the season on Tuesday when both King's teams host league rival Delaware Valley College in a 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. doubleheader in Scandlon Gymnasium.