MARCH 12, 2005
BOB ZIADIE

BIG SECOND HALF LEADS YORK TO FINAL FOUR WITH 70-58 WIN OVER KING’S

MAHWAH, NJ –  York College overcame a two-point first-half deficit and wore down King’s College in the second half to post a 70-58 victory at the NCAA Division III Sectional Championships in the Bill Bradley Center at Ramapo College, Mahway, NJ.    

With the win, York improves to 28-2 and advances to the Division III "Final Four" Friday and Saturday in Salem, Va.  King’s ends its school-record season with a 24-6 record.

The Monarchs played well, controlling the majority of the first half and took a 32-30 lead into the break. But in the second stanza, King’s grueling 85-78 win over top-seeded Ramapo on Friday night began to take its toll, as the Monarchs grew more tired as the game went on. York took full advantage and controlled the game’s final twenty minutes.

York opened the second half with a 13-4 run to take a 43-36 lead with 14:21 left, capped by four straight points from Ben Singer. The Monarchs would then answer with a bucket by John Soboleski and a basket and foul shot from Brian Horgan to cut the lead to 43-41 with 11:26 remaining.

With the Monarchs' legs slowly fading, York would make its move, responding with a critical 9-2 run to take a 54-43 lead on a three-pointer from Joe Yeck with 8:04 on the clock. The teams would trade baskets for the next 2:49 with the Spartans maintaining a 58-48 lead. York would then go on a 7-2 spurt to take a 65-50 lead with 2:34 left. 

King’s tried to make a final run and would cut the lead to 65-55 on a Horgan basket with 1:34 left. After the teams traded baskets, Horgan missed the front-end of a one-and-one with 0:54 left. Yeck was then fouled and put the game away by making one-of-two shots to give the Spartans a 68-57 lead with 0:49 left.

In the deciding second half, King's shot just 33.3 (9-of-27) from the field. Further evidence of fatigue came from the foul line where the Monarchs, who shoot 74.6 percent as a team, made just 8-of-17 shots from the charity stripe in the second half and just 12-of-26 for the game. King's was also 0-for-7 from three-point range over the final 20 minutes.

The first half went as King’s coach J.P Andrejko had planned with the Monarchs controlling the pace of the game.

King’s jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead on a bucket and three-pointer from Vince Scalzo and a lay-up from Horgan. After a three-pointer from York’s Kenny Fass, King’s went on a 9-2 spurt, capped by a three-pointer from Jim Welsh and a basket by Soboleski.

After the teams traded baskets, York answered with a 5-0 run to close to within 18-16 with 8:49 left on a three-pointer from Paddy Lee and a driving bucket from Fass. With King’s holding a 21-20 lead, Horgan scored on a drive while Jamie Cousart made one-of-two foul shots to up the Monarch lead to 24-20. After a pair of foul shots for the Spartans, Soboleski scored down low, then made two free throws on the next possession to extend the King’s advantage to 28-22 with 4:28 on the clock.

York would score four straight points on buckets from Fass and Singer to creep to within 28-26, but Horgan scored back-to-back baskets for King’s to push the lead to 32-26 with 2:22 left. York closed out the first-half scoring when Fass scored on a drive at 2:03, and then later followed with a pair of foul shots with 1:22 left as King’s took a 32-30 lead into the locker room.

York’s strong first-half ending was a sign of things to come in the second half as the Spartans reached the Final Four for the first time in school history. King’s, which was picked to finish fifth in the Freedom Conference pre-season poll, concluded its finest season ever and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

Horgan led King's with 15 points and concluded his brilliant career with 1,637 points to rank third all-time in Monarch history. He was also selected to the all-Sectional Team. Scalzo and Soboleski added 13 each.  

York was paced by Bushey, who earned sectional tourney MVP honors with 21 points while Fass added 14.

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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