FEBRUARY
12, 2002
BOB ZIADIE
KING'S DOMINATES BOARDS TO EARN FIRST SWEEP OF WILKES SINCE 1993-94
WILKES-BARRE King's College placed all five
starters in double figures and held a dominating 50-27 rebounding
advantage as the Monarchs posted a 92-73 victory over arch-rival Wilkes
University in an important MAC Freedom Conference matchup Wednesday in
Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the win, King's improved to 19-5 overall and 9-4 in MAC Freedom
Conference action. With Lycoming defeating Scranton 77-74, the
Monarchs are now deadlocked in a three-way tie for first place with the
Lycoming and Scranton heading into the final game of the season
Wilkes fell to 14-10 and 6-7 in league play.
The win was also King's first over Wilkes on its home court since
winning the inaugural MAC Freedom championship in 1993-94 and also marked
the first time the Monarchs swept the season series from the Colonels
since that same season.
The Monarchs also went ahead 9-1 in the Times Leader Mayor's Cup Series in
which the teams compete head to head in 13 sports. King's now needs
just one more victory to secure the trophy for the second consecutive year
King's held a slim 43-41 half-time lead but jumped out of the gates in the
second half with a 10-0 run as Steve Hite scored two baskets and Brian
Horgan added a bucket and two foul shots to put the Monarchs ahead 53-43
with 15:21 left. Wilkes would eventually close to within 64-58 on a basket
by Dave Plisko with 10:21 remaining, but the Monarchs would counter.
Dannie Evans scored eight points in the run on two three-pointers and a
pair of foul shots as King's extended the lead to 81-61 with4:00 left.
The Monarchs largest lead was 21 points, at 92-71, with 0:40
left. King's outscored Wilkes 49-32 over the game's final 20
minutes.
The Monarchs received tremendous balance as Dennis Hobbs scored 18 points
with 12 rebounds. Evans netted 18 points with four
three-pointers. Hite was outstanding with 15 points and 12 rebounds,
and, along with Hobbs, snared six offensive rebounds.
Brian Horgan was also solid for the Monarchs with 15 points and eight
rebounds, four at the offensive end. King's dominated the game on
the offensive glass with 23 caroms, compared to just 27 total rebounds for
Wilkes.
The Colonels were paced by Dave Plisko with 23 points. Tom Stambaugh added
18 points while Phil Bonczewski chipped in with 11.
King's will close out its regular season Saturday when the Monarchs travel
to Madison, NJ to face FDU-Madison.
BOX
SCORE
