MARCH 6, 2008KING'S WINS NCAA OPENER WITH 96-66 TRIUMPH OVER CLARKSON
WILKES-BARRE, PA-- John Soboleski, Jamie Cousart, and Ryan Nenstiel combined for 63 points and the King's College men's basketball raced out to a 25-8 start and never looked back as the Monarchs posted a 96-66 victory over visiting Clarkson University in the first round of the NCAA Division III National Tournament Thursday in Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the win, King's won its 10th straight game while improving to 20-8 on the year. The Monarchs, who are making their second straight NCAA appearance and its third in four seasons, earned a second round date with Plattsburgh State (26-2) Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in Plattsburgh, NY. Clarkson, which was making its first-ever NCAA appearance, ended its season with a 11-17 mark.
King's raced out of the gates and used two straight buckets by Soboleski (left) and a three-pointer from Kofi Dwebeng to build a 7-0 lead. Clarkson would get on the board with 16:55 left in the half on a short jumper by Brandon Linton. King's would counter with a 13-2 run thanks to eight points from Cousart and a pair of three-pointers by Nenstiel as the Monarch lead grew to 20-4 with 12:21 left in the opening stanza.
James Evans would can a three-pointer to bring Clarkson to within 20-7, but King's answered with a 7-3 spurt, capped by a pair of foul shots from Soboleski that put the Monarchs on top 27-10 with 7:48 remaining. Keith Murray would connect on a three-pointer for Clarkson to cut the lead to 27-13, but King's would again strike with another surge.
A three-pointer by Dwebeng and a traditional three-point play by Soboleski extended the lead to 33-13 with 6:24 left in the half. A three-pointer by Jim Welsh and three more points from Soboleski would cap a 6-0 spurt to give the Monarchs a 39-13 lead with 4:06 remaining. King's would continue to dominate play and built a 31-point lead, its biggest of the half, following a three-pointer by Vince Scalzo and one-of-two foul shots by Cousart (right) as the Monarch lead swelled to 47-16 with 1:31 remaining in the opening half.
The Golden Knights would close to 47-21 at the break following a lay-up by James Evans, and a foul shot and lay-up by Murray with 0:06 on the clock.
Soboleski led all scorers with 15 points at the half while Cousart and Dwebeng tallied nine and eight points respectively for the Monarchs. King's shot a whopping 65.4 (17-of-16) percent from the floor while making 66.7 (6-of-9) from three-point land.
In the second half, Clarkson attempted to come back and closed to within 57-40 on a driving lay-up by Brian Salanger with 14:14 remaining in the contest. The Monarchs would quietly answer, however, with a 16-6 run, rebuilding the lead back to 74-46 with 9:14 left after an inside basket by Jim Schule. King's would keep the pressure up and stretched the lead back to 33 points when two fouls shots by Cousart put the Monarchs on top 90-57 with 3:54 left in the contest.
Soboleski finished with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 9-of-13 fouls shots, while contributing with eight rebounds. Cousart followed with 20 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Nenstiel (left)also netted 20 points, including 14 in the second half, thanks to a 6-of-8 shooting effort and four three-pointers. Dwebeng netted 11 points with three treys while Scalzo and Kevin Conroy chipped in with six points each.
The Monarchs scorched the nets all night long, shooting 61.2 (30-49) percent from the field for the game and 64.7 (11-17) percent from three-point range against a Clarkson defense that came into the game ranked 32nd nationally in allowing just 63.3 points per-game and 26th in field goal percentage defense (40.1).
The Golden Knights, who made an unlikely run through the Liberty League Tournament to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA field, shot just 32.8 (22-67) percent from the field and made only 29.2 (7-24) percent from three-point land.
Linton topped the Golden Knights with 17 points while Murray and Evans netted 11 each. King's held Clarkson's leading scorer Elson Pickering, who came into the game averaging 13.7 points, to just four points after going scoreless in the opening half. Salanger tallied eight points to aid the Golden Knight cause.
KING'S COLLEGE 96, CLARKSON UNIVERSITY 66
CLARKSON UNIVERSITY (11-17)
Brandon Linton 5-15 7-7 17; James Evans 4-6 0-0 11; Keith Murray 4-10 1-2 11; Brian Salanger 3-10 1-2 8; Jonathan Hood 2-5 1-2 5; Elson Pickering 1-12 1-3 4; Zach Gostling 1-2 1-2 3; Nikolai Marquis 1-2 0-1 2; Shawn Lasalita 1-2 0-0 2; George Koduah 0-0 1-2 1; Brandon Rigg-Reives 0-1 1-3 1; Ryan Smith 0-1 1-2 1; John Chiero 0-0 0-0 0; Eric Ingerson 0-0 0-0 0; Kevin Linares 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-67 15-26 66.
KING'S COLLEGE (20-8)
John Soboleski 7-11 9-13 23; Jamie Cousart 5-9 9-13 20; Ryan Nenstiel 6-8 4-4 20; Kofi Dwebeng 4-6 0-0 11; Kevin Conroy 3-4 0-0 6; Vince Scalzo 2-2 0-0 6; Jim Schule 1-2 2-2 4; Jim Welsh 1-4 0-0 3; Jared Black 1-1 0-0 2; Chris Hacker 0-1 1-2 1; Nate Alcott 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-49 25-34 96.
Clarkson University........... 21 45 - 66
King's College.................. 47 49 - 96
3-point goals--Clarkson University 7-24 (James Evans 3-5; Keith Murray 2-6; Brian Salanger 1-5; Elson Pickering 1-5; Shawn Lasalita 0-1; Brandon Linton 0-2), King's College 11-17 (Ryan Nenstiel 4-5; Kofi Dwebeng 3-4; Vince Scalzo 2-2; Jim Welsh 1-3; Jamie Cousart 1-2; Nate Alcott 0-1). Fouled out--Clarkson University-Elson Pickering, King's College-None. Rebounds--Clarkson University 37 (Jonathan Hood 6; Ryan Smith 6), King's College 37 (John Soboleski 8). Assists--Clarkson University 10 (Brandon Linton 5), King's College 22 (Vince Scalzo 7). Total fouls--Clarkson University 25, King's College 20. Technical fouls--Clarkson University-None, King's College-John Soboleski. A-855
Round 1 of NCAA Division III National Tournament. King's faces Plattsburgh (26-2) in NCAA Rd. 2 at 7:00 pm in Plattsburgh, NY
Plattsburgh received a first-round bye.
King's College
133 North River Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711
1 (888) KINGS PA
Questions or comments to: Bob Ziadie, King's College Sports Information Director
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