JANUARY 8. 2006
MONARCH CAGERS SURGE IN SECOND HALF TO DOWN KEYSTONE, 71-62
(Cousart, Soboleski named All-Tournament)
WILKES-BARRE -- John Soboleski scored a season-high 19 points and
blocked five big shots while Jamie Cousart played a brilliant floor game
to lead the King's College men's basketball team to a 71-62 victory over
Keystone College on the final day of the Wilkes-Barre Challenge Sunday
at the Wilkes University Marts Center.
With the win, King's (7-6) rose above the .500 plateau for the first
time this season with its fifth consecutive victory while Keystone
slipped to 7-4.
The game proved to be a contrast in styles as the quicker, more
explosive Giants faced a bigger King's team that looked to control the
game's tempo. Keystone, which defeated Wilkes University 78-65 in
Saturday's opener, came to play against the Monarchs as the Giants raced
out to a quick 12-6 lead thanks to seven points from Darnell Reed and
five by Andre Stone.
With Keystone holding a 19-15 lead with 8:38 remaining in the half,
Soboleski scored nine straight points for King's, giving the Monarchs
its first lead of the game at 20-19 following a traditional three-point
play by the 6-6 junior center. Cousart then followed with a another
three-point play as King's lead grew to 23-19 with 6:38 left in the half
Keystone, however, would quickly recapture the lead at 24-23 on a
three-pointer from Stone and a pair of foul shots from Cash with 5:51
on the clock. After a Cousart basket gave King's a 25-24 lead with 5:33
remaining, the Giants answered with a 7-0 spurt to build a 31-25 lead
with 3:01 left on another three-pointer from Stone. After Soboleski made
one-of-two foul shots to bring the Monarchs to within 31-26, Rashwan
Dennis and Kevin Erb scored back-to-back buckets to put he Giants on top
35-26 with 0:53 on the clock.
After a King's miss with 0:29 left, Keystone attempted to take the final
shot of the half and began to run down the clock. But Cousart came up
huge when he stole the ball from Reed and scored on an uncontested
lay-up with 0:01 remaining to bring King's to within 35-28 at the half.
The play proved critical for the Monarchs as a Keystone basket could
have given the Giants a 37-26 lead at the break.
In the second half King's came out strong and opened with a 9-3 run and
closed to within 41-37 after a three-pointer from Vince Scalzo and a
pair of Soboleski foul shots with 14:41 remaining. After a Keystone
three-pointer from Marcus Spence extended the score to 44-37, King's
countered with a 7-0 spurt to tie the score at 44-44 with 10:01 left.
After the Giants again recaptured the lead at 48-47 on a Stone basket
with 8:37 on the clock, King's used another 7-0 run to take a 54-48
advantage on a Jim Welsh three-pointer with 5:39 left. The bucket, oddly
enough was the final King's field goal of the game.
Tunde Ogunleye would bring Keystone to within 54-51 on a basket with
5:16 left but the remainder of the contest would be decided at the foul
line.
Keystone was whistled for a number of fouls, putting several different
Monarchs on the foul line. King's would go 18-of-22 from the charity
stripe over the last five minutes of play. Cousart helped ice the game
by making 9-of-12 foul shots, Ron Nenstiel made 3-of-4, while Scalzo and
Soboleski made two each down the stretch.
Keystone would draw no closer than 66-62 with 0:58 left after Reed hit
four straight foul shots for the Giants.
Soboleski was 5-of-7 from the field and made 9-of-11 foul shots, earning
a spot on the all-tournament team. Cousart
ran the Monarch offense to near perfection as King's handled the
Keystone press, making just nine turnovers the entire game. Cousart
netted 18 points, including 10-of-13 foul shots, while adding five
rebounds, four assists, and four steals. He was also named
all-tournament.
Nenstiel was also solid, scoring 13 points with five rebounds in 22
minutes if action off the bench, while Scalzo contributed nine points
and eight rebounds. Kofi Dwebeng added six points, five rebounds, and
six assists while Welsh chipped in with six points on two crucial
three-pointers.
Reed led Keystone with 18 points, six assists, and six rebounds while
Stone and Ogunleye added 13 and 10 points respectively.
The Monarchs will resume MAC Freedom Conference play Wednesday at 8:00
p.m. when King's hosts Lycoming College in Scandlon Gymnasium.
Susquehanna defeated Wilkes 81-79 in overtime in the other game on
Sunday.
King's finished the event with a 2-0 record while Keystone and
Susquehanna were both 1-1. Wilkes was 0-2.
2006 Wilkes-Barre Challenge All-Tournament Team
Jamie Cousart - King's
John Soboleski - King's
Andre Stone - Keystone
Darnell Reed - Keystone
Brad Okonak - Susquehanna
Matt Effler - Susquehanna
