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WILKES PULLS AWAY DOWN THE STRETCH TO KNOCK OFF RIVAL KING’S 80-70 IN FREEDOM CONFERENCE OPENER

WILKES-BARRE – Visiting Wilkes University put together a 9-0 run late in the game to post an 80-70 win over rival and defending Freedom Conference men’s basketball champion King’s College in the conference opener for both teams on Tuesday night.

The win improved the Colonels to 5-5 overall as they end a stretch of three straight games at King’s Scandlon Gymnasium. Wilkes also played in the Wilkes-Barre Challenge at the Monarchs home court over the weekend. King’s saw their overall record slip to 7-6.

The two teams would trade baskets throughout the first 12 minutes of the second half and Wilkes still maintained their three-point lead, 55-52, with 7:47 to play. King’s would then nab the lead for the first time in the contest when Cousart scored on a drive and Vince Scalzo dropped a three-pointer to provide the Monarchs with a 57-55 lead with 7:11 left.

The lead would bounce back and forth several times before King’s took their final lead of the night, 64-63, on a 17-foot jumper by Kevin Conroy with exactly four minutes showing on the clock.

Matt Gould answered for Wilkes only 14 seconds later with a driving field goal that lifted the Colonels to a 65-64 advantage. On the next Wilkes possession Chris Gulla hit a clutch three-pointer from the corner with the shot clock winding down to give the Colonels a 68-64 lead with only 2:47 remaining.

Cousart hit two free throws at the 2:34 mark to pull King’s within 68-66, but that is as close as they would get thanks to a decisive 9-0 Wilkes run.

Gould started the spree with two free throws at 2:26 to make it 70-66. After Soboleski was unable to hit either of his two free throws for King’s on their next trip down the floor, DeRojas cashed in a jumper that extended the Wilkes lead to 72-66 with 1:33 to play. Gould would hit three-of-four free throws and DeRojas hit both of his charity toss attempts to help Wilkes match their biggest lead of the game, 77-66, with 45 seconds left.

With the game tied at 4-4 Wilkes scored five straight points, three on a long-range field goal by Steve Kline and two on a John Defeo jumper, to take a 9-4 lead. After Ryan Nenstiel answered with a three-pointer for King’s to make it 9-7, the Colonels went on an 11-2 run to take their biggest lead of the stanza.

Tom Kresge cashed in a traditional three-point play at the 14:42 mark to up the Wilkes lead to 12-7. Kline followed with a jumper in the corner to make it 14-7. Anthony Gabriel would then knock down a trey that gave Wilkes a 17-7 advantage. Vince Scalzo scored inside for the Monarchs to trim the gap to 17-9. But, Kresge would nail a three-pointer to make it a 20-9 game with 13:02 remaining in the half.

King’s would mount a charge before intermission to cut the lead to only three at the break. The Monarchs put together a 12-3 run to turn what was a 23-13 Wilkes lead into a 26-25 Colonels advantage with 4:50 showing on the clock. Jamie Cousart scored six points during the spurt, including the final four points, all from the charity stripe.

The Wilkes lead would hover between five and three points throughout the remainder of the half. The Colonels would eventually settle for a 35-32 lead at halftime.

Wilkes shot 56.5 percent from the field in the contest, including an outstanding 61.9 shooting percentage in the second half. King’s was impressive in their own right, finishing the game with a 48.9 field goal percentage.

Kresge led four Wilkes players in double figures with 21 points. DeRojas was next on the scoring list with 16 tallies. Gulla was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and 3-for-3 from the line on his way to a 12-point night, while Kline popped in 10 points and had four assists.

Cousart had 24 points, including a 12-for-12 shooting night from the charity stripe, to pace King’s. Conroy and Scalzo both added 11 points for the Monarchs. Chris hacker and John Soboleski chipped in with seven points each.

WILKES 80, KING'S COLLEGE 70

WILKES (5-5, 1-0 Freedom)
Tom Kresge 6-11 8-9 21; Chris DeRojas 4-9 6-7 16; Chris Gulla 4-4 3-3 12; Steve Kline 4-11 1-2 10; Matt Gould 2-5 4-5 8; Anthony Gabriel 3-3 0-0 7; John Defeo 3-3 0-0 6; Kyle Ruby 0-0 0-0 0; Chris Hopkins 0-0 0-0 0; Andrew Durako 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-46 22-26 80.

KING'S (7-6, 0-1 Freedom)
Jamie Cousart 6-11 12-12 24; Kevin Conroy 4-5 3-4 11; Vince Scalzo 4-9 0-0 11; Chris Hacker 3-3 1-2 7; John Soboleski 3-4 1-4 7; Kofi Dwebeng 0-6 4-5 4; Ryan Nenstiel 1-5 0-0 3; Jim Schule 1-2 1-1 3; Adam Brasky 0-0 0-0 0; Mike Wagner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-45 22-28 70.

Wilkes........................ 35 45 - 80
King's......................... 32 38 - 70

3-point goals--Wilkes 6-12 (Chris DeRojas 2-4; Anthony Gabriel 1-1; Steve Kline 1-2; Tom Kresge 1-2; Chris Gulla 1-1; Matt Gould 0-2), King's College 4-13 (Vince Scalzo 3-7; Ryan Nenstiel 1-3; Kofi Dwebeng 0-3). Fouled out--Wilkes-None, King's College-None. Rebounds--Wilkes 23 (Anthony Gabriel 5), King's College 26 (Jamie Cousart 6). Assists--Wilkes 11 (Steve Kline 4), King's College 11 (Jamie Cousart 3). Total fouls--Wilkes 18, King's College 21. Technical fouls--Wilkes-None, King's College-None. A-950